1. The 14th day of February is celebrated the World over, as Valentine’s Day. The 14th day of July has been declared in the United Kingdom as a National Day of Memory for the Victims Honour Killings, in memory of Shafilea Ahmed, killed by her own parents, when she was just 17 years young. Ironically, it was on the 14th day of September, 2018 that a young Dalit at the prime of his youth, was brutally murdered in broad day light in a public place, purportedly by his father-in-law, the brother of his father-in-law and their family friend, for having fallen in love with a girl belonging to a Hindu Upper Caste.

2. Thereafter, the father, paternal uncle and their family friend were ordered by the District Collector and Magistrate, to be detained under Section 3 (2) of the Telangana Act No. 1 of 1986. It is against these three orders of detention passed against the girl’s father, paternal uncle and their family friend that the petitioners have come up with the above writ petitions.

3. We have heard Mr. C.V. Mohan Reddy and Mr. T. Niranjan Reddy, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners, Mr. Sharat Kumar, learned Special Government Pleader attached to the office of the learned Advocate General, appearing for the respondents and Mr. G.V. Shivaji, learned counsel appearing for the persons who sought to implead themselves to these writ petitions.

4. The petitioner in W.P. No. 41946 of 2018 is the wife of the detenu, by name, Thirunagaru Sravan Kumar @ Sravan. The petitioner in W.P. No. 41954 of 2018 is the wife of the detenu Thirunagaru Maruthi Rao. Maruthi Rao and Sravan Kumar are brothers.

5. The petitioner in W.P. No. 41955 of 2018 is the wife of the third detenu, by name, Md. Abdul Kareem, purported to be a friend of the other two detenus.

6. It appears that the daughter of T. Maruthi Rao (one of the three detenus), by name, Amrutha Varshini, belonging to the Hindu Vysya Community, purportedly fell in love with one Perumalla Pranay Kumar, a boy belonging to the Scheduled Caste Community. Much against the wishes of her parents, the girl married the boy. Though a case of kidnapping was filed against the boy, no prosecution could take place as both of them were majors.

7. When the girl, Amrutha Varshini, was in the fifth month of her pregnancy and when she was taken to Jyothi Hospital by her husband, (the deceased Pranay Kumar), for medical check-up at noon on 14.09.2018, the deceased was attacked and killed on the spot when he was coming out of the hospital. A First Information Report was registered in Crime No. 139 of 2018 against the girl’s father T. Maruthi Rao and the girl’s paternal uncle T. Sravan Kumar for alleged offences under Sections 302, 34, 120B read with 109 IPC and Section 3 (2) (v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015.

8. On 18.09.2018, the detenus, T. Maruthi Rao, T. Sravan Kumar and Md. Abdul Kareem were arrested.

9. After the arrest of the detenus and their detention to custody, two more First Information Reports came to be registered against the detenus in Crime Nos. 149 of 2018 and 150 of 2018 respectively on 05.10.2018 and 06.10.2018. The offences complained of in both these First Information Reports were respectively under (i) 342, 323 and 506 read with 34 IPC and (ii) Sections 448, 323, 504 and 506 read with 34 IPC.

10. These two First Information Reports (FIRs) registered on 05.10.2018 and 06.10.2018 respectively, related to certain incidents that allegedly happened on 6.08.2018 and 11-8-2018.

11. After these two FIRs were registered on 05.10.2018 and 06.10.2018, the District Collector passed the impugned orders of preventive detention, dated 29.10.2018.

12. Mr. C.V. Mohan Reddy and Mr. T. Niranjan Reddy, learned senior counsel for the petitioners challenge the orders of detention on the following grounds:

(i) that the detenus do not come within the definition o