K C Vohrah J:

[1] On 14 November 1996 acting in revision I set aside the remand order made by a Magistrate under s 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code ('CPC') where she allowed the detention of ten persons by the police for another three days. I gave some short reasons for setting aside the remand order and I now give my written grounds for making such an order.

[2] The hearing of the case was as a result of an urgent application made on the afternoon of 13 November 1996 at 3.15pm for the order of the Magistrate made that afternoon to be revised by the High Court under s 323 of the CPC. The complaint was that the omnibus remand order made on the ten persons by the Magistrate was not in compliance with s 117 of the CPC.

[3] I perused the record of proceedings and the documents which the Magistrate purported to rely on when she made the order of detention on ten persons that afternoon.

[4] It is unfortunate that the learned Magistrate had not appreciated the strict nature of the provisions of s 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the case law on the matter.

[5] The arguments on law in open Court on 14 November 1996 related purely to the record of proceedings and the docume