IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the detention order under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985 must be in accordance with the requirement of public order, and ordinary law should be considered sufficient to prevent the petitioner from further offences.

JUDGMENT :

A.Y. Kogje, J.

1. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is filed for following relief:-

“A) YOUR LORDSHIPS may be pleased to issue writ or any other appropriate writ, order or direction and be pleased to quash and set aside the order of detention order vide PCB/DTN/PASA No.539/2023 dated 04/10/2023 passed by the Respondent No.2 under the provision of Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985 as being illegal, invalid, null and void, arbitrary, suffers from total non-application of mind and violative of Article 14, 21 and 22 of the Constitution of India.”

2. Thus, essentially, the challenge is to the order of detention dated 04.10.2023 passed by the Police Commissioner, Ahmedabad, respondent No.2 herein, by which the petitioner has been detained as a “dangerous person” based on two offences registered against him, details of which are as under:-

3. Learned advocate for the detenue submits that the order of detention impugned in this petition deserves to be quashed and set aside on the ground of registration of the offences under the Indian Penal Code by itself cannot bring the case of the detenue within the purview of definition under section 2(c) of the Act. Further, learned advocate for the detenue submits that illegal activity likely to be carried out or alleged to have been carried out, as alleged, cannot have any nexus or bearing with the maintenance of public order and at the most, it can be said to be breach of law and order. Further, except statement of witnesses, registration of above FIR/s and Panchnama drawn in pursuance of the investigation, no other relevant and cogent material is on record connecting alleged anti-social activity of the detenue with breach of public order. Learned advocate for the petitioner further submits that it is not possible to hold on the basis of the facts of the present case that activity of the detenue with respect to the criminal cases had affected even tempo of the society causing threat to the very existence of normal and routine life of people at large or that on the basis of criminal cases, the detenue had put the entire social apparatus in disorder, making it difficult for whole system to exist as a system governed by rule of law by disturbing public order.

3.1 It is submitted that the offences are pertaining cheating to individuals and will therefore not amounting to breach of public order as no where in the grounds of detention, it is coming out that the sporadic act of the petitioner has caused disturbance to public order. In any case, option was always available to the detaining authority to resort to cancellation of bail of the petitioner.

3.2 It is submitted that there is also a delay of one month in passing the order of detention after the petitioner was enlarged on regular bail on 01.09.2023 in the second offence and order of detention came to be passed on 04.10.2023.

4. As against this, learned AGP submitted that the detaining authority had sufficient material on the record to pass the order of detention, particularly reference to the same is made by the detaining authority in the very order of detention where the detaining authority has referred to the fact that it was the petitioner who had himself confessed to commission of offence. Not only that, there are other supporting evidences also which the detaining authority has taken into consideration like drawing of panchnama, which led to discovery of muddamal articles. The two FIRs registered against the petitioner are under Chapter-16 and 17 of IPC, thereby attracting the ingredients of “dangerous person”.

5. Having heard learned advocates for the parties and considering the facts and circumstan