Preventive detention: For Prelims

For Prelims: Supreme Court, Preventive Detention, Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, Article 22 (5), Fundamental Rights, Parliament, State Legislature, 44th Amendment Act, 1978, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, Article 21. For Mains: Role of judiciary in balancing democratic principles and personal liberty with preventive detention laws. Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non- punitive purposes, most often to prevent further criminal acts. Preventive detention sometimes involves the detention of a convicted criminal who has served their sentence but is considered too dangerous to release. Remand or pre-trial detention and involuntary commitment are sometimes considered a form of preventive detention. The Preventive Detention Act, of 1950 talks about the detention of a person on the grounds of defence, foreign affairs or the security of the state. Under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) preventive detention is police action taken on grounds of suspicion that some wrong actions may be done by the person concerned. India's Supreme Court on the nation's rules governing preventative detention. The Court observed that these laws are a colonial legacy and grant arbitrary power to the state, emphasizing the need for extreme caution and detailed analysis in cases arising from such laws.