SC Quashes Sambhal NSA Detention and Dedicates Judgment to Deswal

The courtroom fell quiet as the bench began with an In Memoriam heading, honoring Ritwik Deswal, a young law clerk who had died days before his 27th birthday^5,22. The judges then ruled that Afroz’s NSA detention could not stand because the authorities relied on a custodial confession alone to form the necessary subjective satisfaction^3,13. That confession, the Court noted, cannot by itself justify preventive detention under the NSA, and the detention order was quashed with a cost of ₹10 lakh imposed on the Uttar Pradesh government for illegal detention^6,9,20.

Afroz faced violence in Sambhal in November 2024 after a court ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, and his detention order was issued in October 2025 after he had been granted bail in other cases^3,10. The Court’s decision set aside the Allahabad High Court’s upholding of the detention and also reversed the local administration’s actions, signaling that authorities must consider other relevant material beyond a custodial confession before detaining someone under the NSA^7,11,18.

Justice Datta’s tribute to Deswal framed the day’s proceedings as a somber, final collaboration, tying the personal loss to the legal outcome and underscoring the importance of careful evidence in detentions^15,21. The ruling also clarified that the NSA’s preventive power is not meant to rest on a single confession, preserving space for other material and due process in future cases^13,19.

The decision leaves Afroz’s fate in question while highlighting a higher bar for detention, and it directs UP authorities to adjust their approach to avoid what the Court called an illegal exercise of draconian power^20,29. The Court’s nuanced stance could influence how similar cases are handled across states, reinforcing the need for robust, corroborated evidence in preventive detention decisions^1,33.