Judgement

SEN, J. : - By this petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution, the petitioner Smt. Poonam Lata has asked for the issue of a writ of habeas corpus for the release of her husband, Shital Kumar who has been detained by an order passed by the Additional Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, date February 28, 1986, made under S. 3(1) of Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling. Activities Act, 1974, (hereinafter referred to as the Act), on being satisfied that it was necessary to detain him "with a view to preventing him from dealing in smuggled goods".

2. Put very briefly, the essential facts are these. The Directorate of Enforcement, New Delhi, gathered intelligence over a period of time before making of the impugned order of detention which revealed that the detenu was engaged in receiving smuggled gold from across the Indo-Nepal Border and was making payments in foreign currency and remitting the sale proceeds of such smuggled gold out of the country in the shape of U. S. Dollars with the help of carriers. On February 26, 1986, the Directorate received information that the three carriers, namely, Ram Deo Thakur