New Delhi: Quashing a man’s detention under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly slaughtering a cow, the Allahabad high court has ruled that the government’s move is not sustainable in law because the alleged act did not occur in public or disturb communal harmony.Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli had arrested one Isham in April last year on allegations that he slaughtered a cow – which is illegal in the state – in his house.Shortly after Isham was granted bail in the cow slaughter, attempted murder and property theft cases against him but while he remained in custody, in July the Shamli station house officer sought his detention under the NSA on the grounds that his alleged act caused a ‘tense atmosphere for five to six days’ and ‘there was a disturbance in public order and peace’, according to the high court.Later that month Shamli’s district magistrate passed an order under section 3(2) of the NSA directing that Isham be confined for 12 months, the court noted.Under section 3(2), the Union or a state government may order someone’s detention if it is satisfied that doing so is required to prevent them from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the state, to the maintenance of public order or to the maintenance of essential supplies and services.Isham challenged the detention order and the state advisory board’s decision to confirm it before the high court, a bench of which comprising Justices Rajeev Misra and Ajay Kumar reserved its verdict on April 30 this year and passed judgment on Tuesday (May 26).Noting that cow slaughter is illegal in Uttar Pradesh, the bench ruled that in Isham’s case however “it is an undisputed fact” that his alleged act “occurred within the four boundaries of the house and not in public place”.“As a consequence of above, there was no violence or disturbance of public peace and order or disturbance of communal harmony,” the judges said, adding that the “inescapable conclusion” in the case is that Isham’s NSA detention “cannot be sustained either in law or fact”. It quashed the district magistrate’s order and the state government’s confirmation order and directed that he be released immediately.The authorities in the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government are known to invoke the NSA in cow slaughter cases. Earlier this year it said it booked 178 people under the stringent law in cow slaughter matters starting in 2020.