Selvakumari v. Secretary To Government
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 14.12.2023 CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.S. SUNDAR AND THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUNDER MOHAN H.C.P.No.1617/2023 Selvakumari ... Petitioner Vs.
1.The State of Tamilnadu rep.by its Secretary to Government Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, St George Fort, Secretariat Chennai.
2.The District Collector and District Magistrate of Cuddalore District, Cuddalore.
3.The Superintendent of Police Cuddalore District, Cuddalore-1.
4.The Superintendent, Central Prison, Cuddalore-4.
5.The Inspector of Police Cuddalore New Town Police Station Cuddalore.
... Respondents
Prayer : Habeas Corpus Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for a Writ of Habeas Corpus calling for the entire records leading to the detention of petitioner's husband who is detained as Goonda at 4th respondent / Central Prison, Cuddalore, by the 2nd respondent vide his order C3/DO/39/2023 dated 25.07.2023 and quash the same as illegal and consequently direct the 5th respondent to produce the body of the detenu Thiru Arivu @ Arumugam son of Ramasamy aged about 53 years from the 4th respondent before this Court and set him at liberty. For Petitioner : Mr.Om Sai Ram For Respondents : Mr.E.Raj Thilak Additional Public Prosecutor assisted by Mr.Aravind.C
ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by S.S.SUNDAR, J] (1)The petitioner, wife of the detenu has come forward with this petition challenging the detention order passed by the 2nd respondent dated 25.07.2023 slapped on her husband, branding him as "Goonda" under the Tamil Nadu Act 14 of 1982.
(2)Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents. (3)Though several points have been raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the detention order is liable to be quashed on the sole ground that the subjective satisfaction of the Detaining Authority regarding the possibility of the detenu coming out on bail by relying upon the bail order granted to the accused in a similar case, suffers from non-application of mind.
(4) In paragraph No.5 of the Grounds of Detention, the Detaining Authority has stated that there is a possibility of the detenu coming out on bail in the ground case since in a similar case, bail was granted to the detenu therein and relied upon an order passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate No.III, Cuddalore, in Crl.MP.No.364/2021. On a perusal of the said order in page No.227 of the Booklet, this Court finds that the said order relates to release of the accused on bail u/s.167[2] of Cr.P.C., since the accused therein had been in prison for more than 90 days and not on merits. Therefore, it is not a similar case and the subjective satisfaction of the Detaining Authority, regarding the possibility of the detenu coming out on
bail suffers from non-application of mind, which vitiates the detention order.
(5)The Hon'ble Supreme Court, in the case of Rekha Vs. State of Tamil Nadu through Secretary to Government and Another reported in 2011 [5] SCC 244, has dealt with a situation where the Detention Order is passed without an application of mind. In case any of the reasons stated in the order of detention is non-existent or a material information is wrongly assumed, that will vitiate the Detention Order. In the instant case, the Detaining Authority has arrived at the subjective satisfaction that the detenu is likely to be released on bail by referring to a bail order granted to an accused in a similar case in CrL.MP.No.6800/2022.
However, the said bail was granted on the ground that accused is entitled to statutory bail and not on merits and therefore, the subjective satisfaction of the Detaining Authority that the detenu is likely to be released on bail suffers from non-application of mind. Hence, on the above grounds, the Detention Order is liable to be quashed. (6)In view of the aforesaid reason, the detention order passed by the 2nd respondent dated 25.07.
the Habeas Corpus Petition is allowed. The detenu is directed to be set at liberty forthwith unless he is required in connection with any other case. [SSSRJ] [SMJ] 14.12.2023 AP Internet : Yes To 1.The Secretary to Government State of Tamilnadu Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, St George Fort, Secretariat Chennai.
2.The District Collector and District Magistrate of Cuddalore District, Cuddalore.
3.The Superintendent of Police Cuddalore District, Cuddalore-1.
4.The Superintendent, Central Prison, Cuddalore-4.
5.The Inspector of Police Cuddalore New Town Police Station Cuddalore.
6.The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.
S.S. SUNDAR, J., and SUNDER MOHAN, J., AP HCP. No.1617/2023 14.12.2023