Abdoolcader J:

Tan Boon Liat who enjoys the intriguing monosyllabic alias of Allen which might well perhaps be his nom de guerre in the operations ascribed to him seeks a writ of habeas corpus on an application returnable and argued before me seven days ago on the complaint that his initial and continued detention in the Detention Camp, Pulau Jerejak, Penang, under an order made by the Minister of Home Affairs, Malaysia, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by s. 4(1) of the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, 1969 ("the Ordinance") is illegal and unlawful as the grounds on which the order of detention was made are not within the scope and object of the Ordinance.

The applicant was arrested on 4 December 1975 in Kuala Lumpur and detained at the Jalan Bandar Police Station until 26 January 1976 when he was served with the detention order made by the Minister under s. 4(1) of the Ordinance, the requisite statement under s. 5(2)(b) of the grounds on which the order was made and the allegations of fact on which the order was based and the relevant forms for making representations against his detention, and then taken to the Detention Camp. A