India, Oct. 9 -- Preventive detention was conceived as an extraordinary measure but has been rendered ordinary through "reckless invocation," as if it were available in the ordinary course, the Madhya Pradesh high court said while quashing the detention of two brothers under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). It ordered their immediate release, holding that authorities showed complete non-application of mind by processing and approving the detentions within a day.

"Preventive detention, conceived as an extraordinary measure by the framers of our Constitution, has been rendered ordinary with its reckless invocation over the years as if it were available for use even in the ordinary course of proceedings," the court's Jabalpur benc...