Satyanarayana Rao J.-Crl.M.P. No. 190 of 1949. This and the connected petitions under section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code were heard together as they raise common questions of law under the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1 of 1947.

The facts and the contentions peculiar to the other petitions will be dealt with separately. Under section 2(1)(a) of the Act the District Magistrate, Madura, passed an order of detention, dated 1st April, 1948, and the applicant was arrested on the same day. He was kept in police custody at Madura till the 3rd April, when he was removed to the Central Jail, Vellore. The grounds of detention were communicated to the applicant on 24th April, 1948, and he submitted his explanation on the 10th May, 1948. The Government referred the matter to the Advisory Council on 14th February, 1949 and the matter is still pending with it. This application was filed on 18th January, 1949, and till now no final order was passed by the Government under section 3(5) of the Act.

Mr. N.S. Mani, the learned counsel for the applicant, raised two contentions: firstly that the order of detention was void ab initio and not bona fide as the grounds now communi