( 1 ) THIS judgment disposes of above noted three writ petitions, by which petitioners have challenged three separate detention orders passed against them, each dated 6th April, 1999 under Section 3 (1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 for short the Act) by the respondent No. 2, with a view to preventing them from engaging in and transporting smuggled goods. These petitions raise a common question whether petitioners were prevented from making effective representation against the impugned order of detention, on the ground that compete copies of the documents, in the language known to them, relied upon by the detaining authority, were not supplied thereby vitiating their continued detention.

( 2 ) BRIEF facts are: that on 9th August, 1998 officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (for short DRI) intercepted an abandoned truck near Agra; no person was available in the truck, the officers kept surveillance for nearly two hours to locate its driver or any of its occupant but in vain. Thereafter truck was brought from Agra to the Office of D. R. I. , Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, New Delhi from which 2