New Delhi: The Allahabad high court on August 16 quashed the order of detention under the National Security Act (NSA) of Kanhaiya Awasthi, an accused in the murder of Unnao-based journalist Shubham Mani Tripathi, Live Law reported. The court cited the delay in the disposal of Awasthi’s representation by the Unnao district magistrate as well as the Union government as the reason for quashing the detention order.Subham Mani Tripathi. Source; Facebook.Tripathi, who was working as a journalist with Kanpur-based newspaper Kampu Mail, was killed on June 19, 2020, allegedly by the ‘sand mafia’ which operated in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. The journalist had filed several reports uncovering instances of illegal land grabbing which reportedly drew the ire of the parties involved in the illegal activity.Tripathi had apparently expressed concerns that he would be targeted by the sand mafia, as Newsclick had reported, and had even informed the police about the threat to his life.Also read: Unnao: Journalist Who Reported on ‘Sand Mafia’ KilledAwasthi was among those accused of the journalist’s murder and a first information report (FIR) was filed against him under sections 147, 148 (related to rioting),149 (unlawful assembly) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).Awasthi was consequently arrested and detained in judicial custody during which time, the Superintendent of Police, Unnao forwarded a dossier recommending his detention under the NSA to Unnao district magistrate. The detention order was passed on September 6, 2020 and on September 22, the accused moved for representation before the concerned authorities. Awasthi’s legal counsel made three major submissions before the court:The recommendation to invoke the NSA had been initiated after a considerable delay (of over two months) since the ‘incident’ took place on June 19, 2020.No time period had been specified on the impugned detention order or the order affirming the detention, which was passed by the state government.There was an “inordinate and unexplained” delay in the adjudication of Awasthi’s representation by the central government which violated the safeguard provided to the petitioner under Article 22 (5) of the Indian constitution.Article 22 (5) which requires any authority making an order of preventive detention to afford the accused the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order.The Allahabad high court bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav noted that, despite there being no time period specified in the NSA or in Article 22 (5), “the intention of the legislature can safely be inferred” that the concerned authorities must be prompt in making their decisions.The court pointed to two significant delays in proceedings; the first a seven-day delay in the district magistrate of Unnao forwarding Awasthi’s representation to the central and state governments; and the second, a delay of 43 days between the central government receiving this representation (October 5, 2020) and rejecting it (November 16, 2020).It should be noted that the court did not find either the detention order or the order approving his detention to be bad in law on the grounds that no time period for detention had been specified. However, the several, unexplained delays caused the court to allow Awasthi’s habeas corpus petition and quash the September 6 detention order, setting Awasthi at liberty.