H.C.P.No.1503 of 2023

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 03.11.2023

CORAM :

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.S.SUNDAR

AND

THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SUNDER MOHAN

H.C.P.No.1503 of 2023

Suguna

W/o Sekar

..

Petitioner

v.

1. State rep.by:

The Secretary to Government

Home, Prohibition and Excise Department

Fort St.George

Chennai 600 009

2. The District Magistrate and

District Collector

Dharmapuri District

Dharmapuri

3. The Superintendent of Police

Dharmapuri District

Dharmapuri

4. The Superintendent of Prison

Central Prison, Salem

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H.C.P.No.1503 of 2023

5. The Inspector of Police

Eriyur Police Station

Dharmapuri District

..

Respondents

Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,

praying for issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus, to call for the records in

S.C.No.04/2023 dated 27.05.2023 on the file of the second respondent and

quash the detention as illegal and direct the respondents to produce the

detenu, Thiru.Sethu @ Assault Sethu, S/o Sekar, aged about 21 years,

Linekollai, Venkatapuram Post, Krishnagiri Taluk & District, now confined

at Central Prison at Salem, before this Hon'ble Court and set him at liberty

forthwith.

For Petitioner

::

Mrs.S.Sengkodi

For Respondents

::

Mr.E.Raj Thilak

Additional Public Prosecutor

assisted by Mr.C.Aravind, Advocate

ORDER

(Order of the Court was made by S.S.SUNDAR,J.)

The petitioner, who is the mother of the detenu, namely, Sethu @

Assault Sethu, aged 21 years, S/o Sekar, has come forward with this petition

challenging the detention order passed by the 2^nd respondent dated

27.05.2023 slapped on her son, branding him as 'Goonda' under the Tamil

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H.C.P.No.1503 of 2023

Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Cyber Law

Offenders, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic

Offenders, Sand Offenders, Sexual Offenders, Slum Grabbers and Video

Pirates Act, 1982 (Tamil Nadu Act 14 of 1982).

2. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the

learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents.

3. Though several grounds are raised in the petition, the learned

counsel appearing for petitioner pointed out before this Court that the

accident register and the wound certificate, which are available in pages 255

& 256 of the booklet, are in English and the translated version of the

accident register and the wound certificate were not supplied to the detenu.

The learned counsel also relied upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme

Court in the case of Powanammal v. State of Tamil Nadu, (1999) 2 SCC

413 and contended that the non-supply of the translated version vitiates the

detention order.

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H.C.P.No.1503 of 2023

4. This Court finds merit on his submission. The above issue is no

longer res integra, as the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of

Powanammal Vs. State of Tamil Nadu reported in (1999) 2 SCC 413 has

held that what applies to a document, would equally apply to furnishing

translated copy of the document in the language known to and understood

by the detenu. In the said judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has further

held as follows:-

''6.The short question that falls for our

consideration is whether failure to supply the Tamil

version of the order of remand passed in English, a

language not known to the detenue, would vitiate her

further detention.

......

16. For the above reasons, in our view, the non-supply

of the Tamil version of the English document, on the

facts and in the circumstances, renders her continued

detention illegal. We, therefore, direct that the detenue

be set free forthwith unless she is required to be

detained in any other case. The appeal is accordin