( 1 ) THIS is an application for a writ in the nature of habeas corpus under Section 491, Criminal P. C. , and Article 226, Constitution of India, presented on behalf of Syed Mohammad Athar Rizvi who is under detention in District Jail, Kanpur, under orders of the District Magistrate of Kanpur purported to have been passed in exercise of the powers given to him under Section 3, preventive Detention Act, 1950. The first point that was initially urged in support of this application, viz. , that the Preventive Detention Act, 1950, was ultra vires of the Indian parliament inasmuch as the main provisions of it were in conflict with the provisions of Part III of the Constitution, has now been concluded by the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of a. K. Gopalan (A. I. R. (37) 1950 S. C. 27 : 61 Cr. L. J. 1383), a Madras detenu. It has been held by a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court in that case that except for Section 14, preventive Detention Act, 1950, the rest of the Act is valid. This decision of the Supreme Court disposes of this preliminary point.

( 2 ) A second point that has been urged on behalf of the detenu again raises the same question of the v