Of Laws and Liberty: India’s Enduring Struggle with Preventive Detention & Its Global Ambitions 

India stands at a critical juncture, grappling with a profound internal paradox while pursuing ambitious global partnerships, as its expansive use of preventive detention—a colonial-era tool creating a “Constitutional Bermuda Triangle” where fundamental rights vanish—contrasts sharply with its strategic modern engagement, exemplified by the landmark India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) designed to deepen economic and technological ties, all while the nation battles a systemic crisis of counterfeit medicines that threatens public health and its reputation as the “pharmacy of the world,” revealing the interconnected challenges of safeguarding domestic liberty, ensuring regulatory credibility, and projecting global power.

Of Laws and Liberty: India’s Enduring Struggle with Preventive Detention & Its Global Ambitions 

Introduction: A Nation at a Constitutional Crossroads 

India stands at a pivotal juncture, grappling with a profound internal paradox while simultaneously forging ambitious global partnerships. On one hand, the nation confronts the shadow of its colonial past, embodied in the persistent and expanding use of preventive detention—a legal mechanism that quietly erodes the very fundamental rights the Constitution was designed to protect. On the other, it is actively crafting a new identity as a confident global leader, finalizing landmark agreements like the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

This duality presents a critical tension: can a nation truly become a global powerhouse if the foundations of its domestic liberty are perceived as shaky? As India navigates complex international relations and a pressing public health crisis in its pharmaceutical sector, the need for a coherent philosophy that equally values internal justice and external ambition has never been more urgent. 

The Unseen Emergency: India’s Pre-Crime Framework and the Erosion of Liberty 

Preventive detention is the legal ghost of India’s colonial era, a specter that has stubbornly refused to leave the halls of power. Conceived not as a tool of a free democracy but as an instrument of imperial control under the Bengal Regulations of 1818, its continued presence in independent India’s legal arsenal represents one of the nation’s most significant constitutional contradictions. 

The Judicial Bermuda Triangle: Where Fundamental Rights Vanish 

The core of the issue lies in a legal anomaly created by the Supreme Court itself. In the landmark 1950 case of A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, the Court established a fateful precedent: laws of preventive detention would be judged solely against the specific safeguards of Article 22 of the Constitution, effectively insulating them from the broader, more powerful fundamental rights guarantees of Articles 14 (Right to Equality), 19 (Freedom of Speech), and 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty). 

This created what legal scholars term a “Constitutional Bermuda Triangle.” Even the revolutionary Maneka Gandhi verdict in 1978, which wove Articles 14, 19, and 21 into an inseparable “Golden Triangle” of rights, failed to fully penetrate this zone. In A.K. Roy v. Union of India (1982), the Court reverted to the Gopalan logic, refusing to apply the doctrine of proportionality to detention laws. The result is a legal black hole where executive discretion often trumps due process, and individuals can be detained based on subjective state “satisfaction” of future threat, not proven guilt. 

From Exceptional Power to Routine Policing 

The Supreme Court has repeatedly sounded the alarm. In recent judgments like Dhanya M. v. State of Kerala (2025) and K. Nazneen v. State of Telangana (2023), the Court has reiterated that preventive detention is an “exceptional measure” to be used only in the gravest threats to “public order,” distinct from routine “law and order” issues. It has warned against using detention as a shortcut to bypass the rigors of a criminal trial or to pre-empt bail. 

Yet, this judicial caution rings hollow against the reality on the ground. State laws like the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA) use dangerously vague definitions of terms like “goonda” and “rowdy,” allowing these extraordinary powers to be used for ordinary policing. The detaining authority, often the police themselves, also serves as the sponsoring authority, creating an ecosystem of self-validating suspicion. The advisory boards meant to review detentions frequently lack the independence or rigor to serve as a meaningful check. 

The ‘Minority Report’ Parallel: Punishing Thought, Not Crime 

The dystopian logic of this system finds a chilling parallel in popular culture. Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report depicts a “PreCrime” unit that arrests individuals for murders they have not yet committed, based on fallible predictions. India’s preventive detention regime operates on a similarly unsettling fiction. It substitutes concrete evidence for vague suspicion, and punishment for pre-emptive control. The “crime” is not what you have done, but what the state believes you might do. This philosophy is inherently vulnerable to misuse, often targeting political dissenters, activists, and marginalized communities who challenge the status quo. 

The Path to Redemption: Reforming the Unreformable? 

Genuine reform requires more than periodic judicial wrist-slapping. It demands a fundamental constitutional re-examination. The ghost of Gopalan must be laid to rest by explicitly bringing preventive detention under the scrutiny of the Golden Triangle. The scope of these laws must be drastically narrowed to only the most severe threats—terrorism, espionage, and warlike acts—and fortified with ironclad procedural safeguards: 

• Mandatory, time-bound legal representation for the detainee. 

• Truly independent and powerful review boards. 

• A much higher threshold of evidence for “subjective satisfaction.” 

Until this happens, preventive detention will remain India’s enduring constitutional paradox, a measure justified in the name of preserving order that systematically subverts the justice it claims to protect. 

Forging a New Partnership: The Strategic Depth of India-UK CETA 

In stark contrast to the inward-looking tension of its detention laws, India’s foreign policy displays a confident, outward-looking ambition. The signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the United Kingdom in July 2025 is not merely a trade deal; it is a strategic declaration. 

Beyond Tariffs: The Architecture of a Next-Generation Partnership 

While the headline figures—such as the goal to double bilateral trade by 2030—are significant, the real value of CETA lies in its sophisticated, multi-layered framework. It recognizes that in the 21st century, economic strength is inextricably linked to technological prowess and strategic security. 

• Economic Symbiosis: The agreement is a classic case of complementary economies. India gains significantly reduced tariffs for its textiles, agricultural products, and generic pharmaceuticals. The UK, in return, secures better access for its Scotch whisky, automobiles, and professional services. The accompanying Double Contributions Convention (DCC) is a masterstroke, removing the dual social security tax burden for Indian professionals in the UK for up to three years, making talent mobility seamless and supercharging the Indian IT and services sector. 

• The Strategic Core: Defence and Technology: This is where CETA transcends commerce. The Defence Industrial Road Map aligns perfectly with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) mission, aiming for joint development and co-production of advanced defence platforms, rather than a simple buyer-seller relationship. 

Even more groundbreaking is the Technology Security Initiative (TSI), launched in 2024. By bringing together the National Security Advisers of both countries, the TSI facilitates trust-based collaboration in sensitive, dual-use technologies like Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductor design. In an era of tech nationalism and splintering internet governance, this initiative positions the India-UK partnership as a bulwark of secure, democratic innovation. 

A New Model for Global Engagement 

CETA places India within a web of modern, high-value economic partnerships. It follows a similar investment-linked model as the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which secured a $100 billion investment pledge. For a post-Brexit UK seeking global relevance and for an aspiring India hungry for technology and investment, this partnership is a convergence of necessity and opportunity. It is a template for how India can engage with the developed world—not as a subordinate, but as an indispensable co-architect of a resilient, multipolar global order. 

The Pharmacy of the World in Peril: A Multi-Pronged War on Fake Drugs 

India’s reputation as the “pharmacy of the world” is a source of immense national pride and strategic advantage. However, this status is under severe threat from an insidious internal enemy: the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard medicines. Recent tragedies involving adulterated cough syrups are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a deep-rooted systemic failure. 

The Enforcement Vacuum and a Legal Fix 

The crisis is compounded by a critical enforcement gap created by the Supreme Court’s 2020 verdict in Ashok Kumar v. State of NCT of Delhi. The judgment, aimed at preventing misuse, restricted the power to register cases under the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act, 1940, exclusively to Drug Control Officers. This inadvertently paralysed law enforcement, as the police—with their superior investigative reach and resources—were sidelined. The result is a dismal conviction rate of just 5.9% for counterfeit drug cases. 

The solution lies in a “Best of Both Worlds” model, championed by the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA). This approach advocates for: 

• Leveraging the New Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023: Police can now actively investigate these rackets under general criminal provisions like Section 318 (Cheating) and Sections 336-338 (Forgery), which aptly cover the deception and document falsification inherent in the counterfeit trade. 

• Concurrent Jurisdiction: Allowing Drug Control Officers and the police to work in tandem, combining scientific regulatory expertise with robust investigative muscle. 

A Forensic-Led, Financial War 

Combating this menace requires a war-room approach that goes beyond mere raids and seizures. 

• Follow the Money: Counterfeit medicine is a lucrative, organized economic crime. Agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) must invoke the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to dismantle the financial networks that sustain these operations. 

• Forensic Science as a Force Multiplier: Every major case must involve rigorous forensic analysis—chemical composition of drugs, packaging material, ink analysis, and digital footprints (Call Detail Records). Strengthening our Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs) and leveraging the expertise of the National Forensic Science University (NFSU) is crucial to build court-admissible evidence. 

• Institutional Mechanism: The formation of Special Investigation Teams (SITs) comprising police, drug inspectors, ED officials, and forensic experts can ensure a coordinated, multi-dimensional assault on the entire supply chain of this deadly trade. 

By integrating regulatory law, criminal law, and financial law, India can transform its response from reactive seizures to proactive protection, safeguarding both its citizens and its global reputation. 

Conclusion: The Imperative for Coherent Governance 

The threads of preventive detention, international trade, and pharmaceutical regulation may seem disparate, but they are woven together by a common theme: the quality of governance. A nation’s character is defined not only by the treaties it signs on the global stage but also by the justice it delivers at home.

As India strides confidently into the world with agreements like CETA, it must simultaneously look inward and reconcile with the authoritarian shadow of its preventive detention laws. Likewise, its economic ambitions cannot be fully realized if its flagship industries are crippled by a crisis of credibility. The path forward requires a holistic vision—one where constitutional liberty, strategic economic partnership, and public health security are not competing priorities, but the interconnected pillars of a truly prosperous and just India.