Judgment

Vaidlalingam, J.-The petitioner has filed this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution for his release by a writ of habeas corpus from detention in the district jail, Dhanbad, Bihar State. The averments made in the petition are briefly as follows.

2. The petitioner along with nine others was arrested on August 9, 1970 at about 10.30 a.m. by the police officers headed by the Divisional Inspector Parasnath Singh at village Het Kandra in Police Station Sindri, situated within the Dhanbad district. The arrest of the petitioner was stated to have been made under Section 151, Cr. P. C. The petitioner is an activist of Samyukta Socialist Party and was also the former Chairman of the Bihar unit of the said party. On August 9, 1970, the petitioner and his companions were standing scattered unarmed over an area of land in survey plot No. 295 in Khata No. 49 of village Het Kandra in Jharia Anchal in Dhanbad district. He was selecting suitable portion in the said land for cultivation by landless persons who were also present along with the petitioner. The land is stated to be Gair Mazarua land. After his arrest he was taken to Sindri police station and kept there till 2 p. m. and then brought to the district jail, Dhanbad, to which he was admitted after 3.30 p.m. and is being kept in custody in the said jail under the control of the second respondent to the writ petition, the Superintendent of District Jail, Dhanbad. The petitioner was at no time- produced before a Magistrate for remand in the Jail custody, The petitioner learnt from the Superintendent of the Jail that he has been remanded to custody under Sections 151, 117(3) and 107, Cr. P. C. He has not been informed about the grounds for his arrest nor furnished with any other information regarding the reasons for his arrest. The petitioner has been arrested by the officers of the Sindri Police Station due to the influence of Indian Iron and Steel Company who are bent upon grabbing all public lands including survey plot No. 295. The petitioner filed a petition for habeas corpus before the Patna High Court on August 11, 1970, but it has been withdrawn on September 4, 1970. There has been a violation of the mandatory provisions of Article 22 of the Constitution and the remand orders stated to have been passed are illegal as the petitioner has never been produced before the Magistrate.

3. In the return filed by the second respondent, the Superintendent of the District Jaii, it has been stated that the petitioner was arrested not only under Section 151, Gr. P. G., but also under Sections 151/107/117(3) Cr. P. C. on August 9, 1970, on a warrant issued by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dhanbad. Another warrant for the detention of the petitioner under Sections 143 and 447, I. P. G., has been issued by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dhanbad, in Sindri Police Station, Case No. 3(5) of 1970. A further warrant is also stated to have been issued by the same Magistrate on August 11, 1970 for detaining the petitioner under the same sections in Sindri Police Station Case No. 5(8) of 1970. The second respondent also refers to an order stated to have been issued on August 2, 1970, by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate under Section 144, Cr. P. C., with which we are not at present concerned. He states that on August 9, 1970, at about 10 a. m. the petitioner and other members of the Samyukta Socialist Party forcibly entered Government lands as well as the lands of the Indian Iron and Steel Company in village Het Kandra within the Sindri Police Station. After fixing party flags on the land they started ploughing the land after mobilising the villagers. This highhanded act of the petitioner and his companions was objected to by the Halka Karamchari and by the management of the Indian Iron and Steel Company. The petitioner and his companions were, however, adamant in ploughing the fields forcibly despite the warning given by the police. The large number of villagers who had by then collected at th