Subba Rao, J.-This is an application under section 491, Criminal Procedure Code. The petitioner is an advocate of this Court. On the 1st April, 1948, the Commissioner of Police passed an order of detention under section 2(1)(a) of the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act (Act I of 1947). He was duly authorised by the Provincial Government to exercise its powers under section 2(1) of the said Act. In the detention order it is stated that the petitioner is acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and that with a view to preventing him from so doing, it is necessary to detain him. The Commissioner of Police communicated the said order to the Government under section 2(2) on the 9th June, 1948. On the nth September, 1948, the Government served the grounds of detention on the petitioner. Though the order of detention was passed on 1st April, 1948, the petitioner was arrested only on 17th August, 1948, as presumably his whereabouts were not known till that date.

Mr. A.K. Pillai, learned counsel for the petitioner, raised before us the following four points: (1) that the order of the Commissioner dated 1st April, 1948, was invalid; (2) that though the ord