1. The petitioner has applied for a writ in the nature of Habeas Corpus under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for directing his release from his allegedly illegal detention in Bhagalpur. The facts necessary to he stated for deciding the only point urged by Shri Shyam Prasad Mukherjee appearing as Amiens curiae in this case are these:

That on 24-8-1965 the petitioner was arrested at Makandpnr by a Police Officer who had no warrant of arrest with him and was taken to Special Central Jail, Bhagalpur, with a custody warrant. He was arrested under Sec.151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter called the Code) and while in jail custody, on 25-8-65, he was served with a copy of order no. 20480 dated 25-8-65 passed by the District Magistrate, Bhagalpur. The point pressed in support of the application is that the service of the detention order, while the petitioner was already in jail, was illegal and detaining him in pursuance of that order was mala fide and ultra vires as it was hit by the principle of, what is known as. double detention.

In support of this contention, reliance was placer! upon two Supreme Court decisions in Rameshwar Shaw V/s. District Magistrat