Tariq Ahmad Dar, a labourer, was detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) by the District Magistrate, Kulgam, on the basis of 11 FIRs relating to livestock and cattle theft across Kulgam, Anantnag, and Shopian districts. He had been granted bail in all cases and chargesheets had been filed against him. His wife challenged the detention by filing a Letters Patent Appeal before the Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Srinagar Bench, after a Single Bench dismissed the Habeas Corpus Petition. The Division Bench held that the alleged acts of cattle and house-breaking theft amounted to law-and-order infractions and did not constitute a threat to 'public order' within the meaning of Section 8 of the PSA, relying on established precedents distinguishing 'law and order' from 'public order'. The court found that the ordinary criminal law machinery, including bail conditions and pending trials, was adequate, and that invoking the PSA in these circumstances was an abuse of process.