2000 Supreme(Bom) 770
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
(NAGPUR BENCH)
R.K. Batta P.S. Brahme, JJ.
Raju Vitthalrao Bhadre.... Petitioner.
Versus
State of Maharashtra, through Secretary,
Preventive Detention another.... Respondents.
Criminal Writ Petition No. 158 of 2000, decided on 29-9-2000.
Advocates appeared :
S.A. Jaiswal, for petitioner.
T.A. Mirza, A.P.P., for State.
Subject
Detention - Preventive Detention
Act Referred
MAHARASHTRA PREVENTION OF DANGEROUS ACTIVITIES OF SLUMLORDS, BOOTLEGGERS, DRUG OFFENDERS AND DANGEROUS PERSONS ACT : S.3(1), S.3(2), S.3(3)
Headnote
Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act,1981 - Section 3(3)- Life of detention order - The life of detention order is only 12 days unless it is approved by the State government within that period , therefore it is not feasible to specify that the petitioner may make representation with in twelve days.
2. The detention order is challenged by the petitioner on various grounds including that the Detaining Authority has failed to communicate to the petitioner that he could make representation within twelve days and non-communication of the same is fatal. In view of the judgment of the Full Bench in (Sunil Sadashiv Ghate v. State of Maharashtra others)1, Criminal Writ Petition No. 272 of 1999 reported in 2000(5) Bom.C.R. (F.B.)827 which has been confirmed by the Supreme Court in (State of Maharashtra others v. Santosh Shankar Acharya)2, 2000(5) Bom.C.R. (S.C.)751, that the Detaining Authority was not made aware as to whether the petitioner was in jail or on bail when the detention order was made as a result of which the detention order is vitiated; that the representation dated 10-3-2000 was not forwarded by the Advisory Board to the Government nor the representation dated 14-3-2000 filed by the petitioner before the respondent No. 1 was forwarded by the Government to the Advisory Board due to which the right of representation enjoined vide Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India has been materially affected and that the instances on which the Detaining Authority has relied upon do not pertain to public order, but those instances pertain to violation of law and order.
3. To start with, it was urged that the Detaining Authority was not aware as to whether the petitioner was in jail or on bail as a result of which the recording of the satisfaction by the Detaining Authority is not in accordance with law. Factually, the contention of the learned Advocate for the petitioner is not correct since in the grounds of detention dated 8-2-2000 in para 11, it is stated that petitioner may submit representation to the Government through Superintendent of Jail where he is detained. In view of this, it is not necessary to refer to the authorities on which learned Advocate for the petitioner had placed reliance. Accordingly, we do not find any merit in the first submission of the learned Advocate for the petitioner.
4. Secondly, it is urged by the learned Advocate for petitioner that the Detaining Authority failed to communicate to the petitioner that he had a right to make representation to the Detaining Authority within a period of twelve days and as such, the detention order stands vitiated. In para 13 of the ground of detention, the petitioner was informed that he had a right to make representation to the Detaining Authority against the order of detention and in case he wishes to make representation, then he should address it to the Commissioner of Police, Civil Lines, Nagpur. Contention of the learned Advocate for the petitioner is that the grounds of detention do not specifically inform the petitioner that the said representation should be made within twelve days. This aspect is now well settled. The full judgment of this Court in Sunil Sadashiv Ghate v. The State of Maharashtra others (supra) which has been confirmed by the Apex Court in State of Maharashtra v. Santosh Shankar Acharya (supra), after placing reliance on the judgments of the Supreme Court in (Kamleshkuma