Supreme Court fines Uttar Pradesh over illegal preventive detention order

India’s Supreme Court has rejected the preventive detention of Mulla Afroz under the National Security Act and ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to pay a Rs 10 lakh fine for what it described as an illegal detention order. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu set aside the order concerning Afroz, who was accused by police of involvement in the violence that occurred in Sambhal in November 2024. The court held that a confession recorded while an accused is in custody cannot be used as the basis for a preventive detention order under the National Security Act.

A detailed judgment was awaited. According to the police account cited in the report, Afroz was accused of firing shots that allegedly killed two people during the violence. The unrest began after local objections to a survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid by district officials and the Archaeological Survey of India.

Four people were killed in the violence, according to the material. The Uttar Pradesh Police invoked the NSA against Afroz in October 2025 over his alleged involvement. The National Security Act permits the Centre and state governments to detain people to prevent actions considered prejudicial to India’s defence.

The maximum detention period is 12 months, although detention can be ended earlier. The Supreme Court’s ruling makes clear that a custodial confession cannot, by itself, support preventive detention under the law. The decision concerns the legality of the detention order and does not, in the supplied material, resolve the underlying criminal allegations against Afroz.