Supreme Court quashes NSA detention in Sambhal violence case, fines U.P. ₹10 lakh

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a preventive detention order issued under the National Security Act (NSA) against a man arrested in connection with the November 2024 Sambhal violence, ruling that the detention power had been exercised illegally. The court imposed costs of ₹10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government.

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu set aside the detention order passed by the Sambhal District Magistrate on October 13, 2025, holding that the authorities had not considered relevant material before depriving the detenue of his liberty. The Bench also held that a confessional statement relied upon by the authorities could not, on its own, justify preventive detention.

Pronouncing the operative portion in open court, the Bench said the power of detention was illegally exercised, that the detaining authorities had failed to consider the appropriate material, and that the October 13 order was being quashed with costs of ₹10 lakh on the State.

The ruling came on a petition filed by Mulla Afroz, who was arrested in connection with violence that broke out on November 24, 2024, during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. Four people were killed in the clashes. The survey had been ordered by a Sambhal civil court on November 19, 2024, while hearing a suit filed by Hindu petitioners claiming the mosque had been built over a temple.

Advocate Divyesh Pratap Singh, appearing for Mr. Afroz, told the court that his client was taken into custody on January 17, 2025, and coerced into confessing under the threat of being killed in a staged encounter. He argued that the police case rested solely on the alleged custodial confession and the purported recovery, at Mr. Afroz's instance, of a .32-bore pistol. Citing the forensic report, he submitted that the person Mr. Afroz was accused of murdering had died from injuries caused by a .315-bore firearm, not the weapon allegedly recovered from him.

While Mr. Afroz remained in custody, the Sambhal District Magistrate invoked Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980, and ordered his preventive detention on October 13, 2025. His representations to the State and Central governments were rejected. The Uttar Pradesh government confirmed the detention order on November 8, 2025, directing that he remain in preventive detention until October 12, 2026.

Mr. Afroz then moved the Allahabad High Court through a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. The High Court dismissed his plea on June 8, 2026, after which he approached the Supreme Court.