Pranab Doley case: Gauhati HC says District Magistrate's approval not needed for jail meetings

The Gauhati High Court has ruled that a person detained under the National Security Act (NSA) does not need prior permission from the District Magistrate to meet family members, friends or a lawyer. Instead, the Superintendent of the concerned jail must facilitate such meetings without avoidable delay.

Justice Manish Choudhury passed the order while hearing a writ petition filed by Lakhi Doley, whose son, Pranab Doley, was placed under preventive detention under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act on July 30, 2026. The petitioner approached the court after alleging that repeated requests to meet his son in Golaghat District Jail were denied and that he was asked to obtain permission from the District Magistrate, despite receiving no response to his applications.

According to the petition, Pranab Doley had earlier been arrested in connection with a criminal case registered at Bokakhat Police Station. Although he was granted bail by an Additional Sessions Judge on July 29, 2026, he remained in custody after the preventive detention order under the NSA was issued before his release.

The state argued that the detention order had been issued in accordance with the National Security Act and that all constitutional safeguards available to a detainee were being followed.

While deciding the matter, the High Court relied on the Supreme Court's landmark judgment in Francis Coralie Mullin vs Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi, which recognised that a detainee's right to meet family members, friends and legal counsel forms part of the constitutional guarantee of personal liberty and the right to live with dignity. The apex court had held that restrictions on such meetings must be "reasonable, fair and just" and that requiring prior permission from a District Magistrate was "cumbrous and unnecessary".

Referring to those principles, the High Court observed that it was "not necessary for the petitioner to approach the District Magistrate" to meet his son. It directed that the Superintendent of District Jail, Golaghat, should facilitate appointments sought by the petitioner's family and next friend. The court further held that the detainee must be allowed to meet "a legal advisor of his choice at any reasonable hour during the day" after obtaining an appointment from the jail superintendent, which should be granted "without any avoidable delay". If required, a jail official may supervise the meeting, but "not... within hearing distance" of the detainee and the lawyer.

With these directions, the High Court disposed of the writ petition and permitted the petitioner to produce a downloaded copy of the order before the Superintendent of District Jail, Golaghat, during his next visit.