JUDGMENT

Banerjee, J.-On the backdrop of escalation of terrorist activities in the country, Parliamentary wisdom prompted it to introduce in the Statute Book the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1985 and since there was an expectation that the activities concerned would be curbed within a period of two years, life of the said Act of 1985 was restricted to a period of two years from the date of its commencement. But unfortunately, the terrorist violence continued unabated and resultantly the Government thought it prudent to extend the life of the legislation from time to time. In one of the earliest pronouncements of this Court after the introduction of the said Act, this Court in Usmanbhai Dawoodbhai Memon & Ors. v. State of Gujarat [1988(2) SCC 271] in no uncertain terms stated that the intendment of the legislation is to provide special machinery to combat the growing menace of terrorism in different parts of the country. This court also did emphasise that since the legislation is a drastic one, the same should not ordinarily be resorted to unless the government s law enforcing machinery fails. In paragraphs 17 and 18 of the Report this Court observed :

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