Hon’ble Bala Krishna Narayana, J.—Heard Sri I.K.Chaturvedi, learned counsel for the petitioner, learned AGA for the respondent Nos. 1,2 and 3 and Sri Firoz Ahmad, learned counsel for the Union of India/respondent No. 2.

2. Pleadings between the parties have been exchanged and the matter is ripe for final disposal.

3. By means of this writ petition the petitioner has challenged the detention order dated 4.8.2014/14.8.2014 passed by the District Magistrate, Banda, respondent No. 3 (Annexure-10) by which he in exercise of his power under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) has ordered that the petitioner be detained in District Jail, Banda stating the grounds of detention as required under Section 8 of the Act as well as the order dated 23.9.2014 passed by the State Government confirming the detention order dated 4.8.2014/14.0.2014 (Annexure 15) to the writ petition.

4. The brief facts of the case as emerging from the pleadings of the parties are that an FIR was lodged by one Chandra Bhushan, resident of village Baurali Azam on 6.2.2014 at 6.20 p.m. against unknown persons at P.S. Bisanda, District Banda stating therein that Km. Sandhya who was daughter of his relative Ram Naresh Patel, aged about six years, had come to his house alongwith her grand mother to participate in a religious ceremony (yagya) organised in his house, had gone missing on 31.1.2014 at about 4.00 p.m. from his house in village Baurali Azam.

5. The aforesaid FIR was registered as case crime No. 22 of 2014, under Section 363 IPC, at P.S. Bisanda, District Banda.

6. The dead body of the deceased Sandhya was recovered from a well in the village on 8.2.2014. Inquest was conducted on 8.2.2013 between 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. and post-mortem was performed on 9.2.2014 at 2.00 p.m. and since the deceased’s post-mortem report indicated that the she before being thrown into the well was throttled to death after being subjected to rape, case crime No. 22 of 2014 which was earlier registered under Section 363 IPC was converted under Sections 363, 376, 302, 201 IPC and Section 4 of Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The investigation of the case continued for several months without making any headway despite the frequent change of Investigating Officers. The name of the petitioner as an accused in the aforesaid case surfaced for the first time in the statement of one Sunder recorded by the Investigating Officer on 18.5.2014 in which he stated that on the date of the incident he had seen the deceased sitting on the lap of the petitioner in his guava grove at 5.15 p.m.. On the basis of his last seen evidence, the Investigating Officer submitted charge-sheet against the petitioner on 26.5.2014 and sent him to jail. The bail application moved by the petitioner moved before the Special Judge/Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 1 Banda was rejected by him by his order dated 14.7.2014. Thereafter the petitioner moved a application for bail before the High Court which was registered as bail application No. 41263 of 2014.

7. While the petitioner was confined in jail in connection with the aforesaid case, the impugned order of preventive detention was passed by the respondent No. 3 on 4.8.2014 against the petitioner and served upon him in District Jail Banda alongwith the grounds of detention under Section 8 of the National Security Act. The order of preventive detention dated 4.8.2014/14.8.2014 passed by respondent No. 3 apart from narrating the facts already stated hereinabove further reflected that the same was passed on the basis of report of S.P., Banda which itself was based upon the confidential report of the local intelligence unit forwarded to him by Inspector In-charge stating that the petitioner who was accused in case crime No. 22 of 2014, under Section 302, 201 and 376 IPC had moved a bail application before the High Court and there was every likelihood of his being released on bail and in ca