JUDGMENT

S. M. FAZAL ALI, J.:—This Writ Petition has been filed with a prayer that an order of detention passed against the petitioner on the 7th September, 1979, under S. 3 (1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 be quashed. After the order was served on the detenu he made a representation on the 27th September, 1979 to the Government who received it on the 28th September, 1979. In support of the Rule Mr. A. K. Sen has raised a number of points, but in view of one of them which is to the effect that there has been an inordinate and unexplained delay on the part of the detaining authority in deciding the representation and that the detention is therefore vitiated, we need not go into the other points. On the question of delay the petitioner had expressly taken a plea in para 11 of the petition but in their reply the respondents have not at all explained or detailed any reason why there was inordinate delay in disposing of the representation submitted by the detenu to the detaining authority. The admitted position is that the representation was received by the Government on the 28th September, 1979 and it was rejected on 3rd Novem