#Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act

A three-year lapse and the use of detention to sidestep a Supreme Court bail order breach Article 21, prompting the High Court to set aside the preventive detention. The decision bars authorities from relying on stale evidence to prolong detention, safeguarding accused persons under the PITNDPS Act.

Karnataka High Court sets aside a detention order under the PITNDPS Act, ruling that failure to supply relied-upon documents to the detenu deprives them of the constitutional right to make an effective representation. The judgment reinforces that procedural fairness under Article 22(5) is non-negotiable in preventive detention cases.