Judgment

SAWANT

( 1 ) THE petitioner in the writ petition is the secretary-General of Jamat-e-lslami Hind (JEIH) which is an All India organisation. Appellants in the Civil are the Presidents of Bihar Zone and Patna Circle of the said JEIH. On 10/12/1992, the central government issued a notification declaring the JEIH an unlawful association under Ss. (1 of Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and also gave immediate effect to the notification in exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Ss. (3 of Section 3 of the Act. The challenge in the present writ petition and the appeal has been restricted to the exercise of the powers under the proviso to Ss. (3 of Section 3. The controversy, therefore, lies in a narrow compass.

( 2 ) THE scheme of the Act so far as it is relevant for our present purpose is as follows. Under sub-section (1 of Section 3 the central Government is empowered to declare any association as unlawful, by notification in the Official Gazette, which association in its opinion is or has become unlawful. Section 2 (a) defines association to mean "any combination or body of individuals". Section 2 (f) defines unlawful activity in relation to an individual or association to mean "any action taken by such individual or association (whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise), (i) which is intended, or supports any claim to bring about, on any ground whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which incites any individual or group of individuals to bring about such cession or secession; (ii) which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India". Section 2 (g) defines unlawful association to mean "any association (i) which has for its object any unlawful activity, or which encourages or aids persons to undertake any unlawful activity, or of which the members undertake such activity; or (ii) which has for its object any activity which is punishable under Section 153-A or Section 153-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860, or which encourages or aids persons to undertake any such activity, or of which the members undertake any such activity".

( 3 ) SECTION 3 (2 requires that the notification issued under Section 3 (1 shall specify the grounds on which it is issued and such other particulars as the Centra] government may consider necessary. The proviso to Ss. (2 of the said section states that nothing in the said Ss. shall require the central government to disclose any fact which it considers to be against the public interest to disclose. Ss. (3 of Section 3 states that no such notification shall have effect until the tribunal has by an order made under Section 4, confirmed the declaration made therein and the order is published in the Official Gazette. The proviso to Ss. (3 of the said section which falls for consideration before us then states as follows :

"provided that if the central government is of opinion that circumstances exist which render it necessary for that government to declare an association to be unlawful with immediate effect, it may, for reasons to be stated in writing, direct that the notification shall, subject to any order that may be made under Section 4, have effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. "

( 4 ) SECTION 4 makes a provision requiring the central government to refer the notification declaring an association unlawful, to the tribunal within 30 days from the date of the publication, for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the association unlawful. Ss. (2 of Section 4 requires the tribunal on receipt of the reference to call upon such association to show cause within 30 days from the date of the service of the show-cause notice,