Ramkumar v. Secretary To Government

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED : 10.01.2024 CORAM :

THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M.S. RAMESH AND THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUNDER MOHAN Ramkumar ... Petitioner Vs.

1.The Secretary to the Government, Home Prohibition and Excise Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.

2.District Collector and District Magistrate, Vellore District, Vellore.

3.The Superintendent of Police, Vellore District, Vellore.

4.The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Vellore.

5.The Inspector of Police, Vellore PEW Police Station, Vellore District.

... Respondents Prayer: Habeas Corpus Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of Writ of Habeas Corpus,

calling for the records in connection with the order of Detention passed by the second respondent dated 08.09.2023 in C3/D.O.No.90/2023 petitioner/Detenue Ramkumar, Male aged 33 years, S/o.Mohan, who is confined at Central Prison, Vellore and set aside the same and direct the respondents to produce the detenue before this Court and set him at liberty.

For Petitioner : Mr.D. Balaji For Respondents : Mr.E. Raj Thilak, Additional Public Prosecutor assisted by Mr.C. Aravind

ORDER

(Order of the Court was made by M.S.RAMESH, J.) The petitioner herein, who is the detenu Ramkumar, S/o. Mohan, aged 33 years, has come forward with this petition challenging the detention order passed by the second respondent dated 08.09.2023 slapped on him, branding him as "Bootlegger" under the Tamil 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 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 for the petitioner pointed out that the Detaining Authority has not applied its mind while expressing its subjective satisfaction that the detenu is also likely to be released on bail. It is his submission that the case relied upon by the Detaining Authority, is not similar to the present case, as the bail was granted in favour of the accused therein only by referring to Covid-19 pandemic.

4. On a perusal of the Booklet, this Court finds that the bail order passed in the case relied upon by the Detaining Authority, in Crl.M.P.No.1206 of 2020, dated 20.04.2021, is not similar to the case on hand, since the accused therein was released on bail mainly by citing Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, this Court finds that the subjective satisfaction of the Detaining Authority is irrational and the detention order is liable to quashed on the ground of non-application of mind.

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 the accused in a similar case, wherein, the said bail was granted mainly by citing Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, the subjective satisfaction of the Detaining Authority that the detenu is likely to be released on bail suffers from non-application of mind.

When the subjective satisfaction was irrational or there was non-application of mind, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the order of detention is liable to be quashed. It is relevant to extract paragraphs No.10 and 11 of the said judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court:- "10.

the bail application number, whether the bail order was passed in respect of the co-accused in the same case, and whether the case of the co-accused was on the same footing as the case of the petitioner, then, of course, it could be argued that there is likelihood of the accused being released on bail, because it is the normal practice of most courts that if a coaccused has been granted bail and his case is on the same footing as that of the petitioner, then the petitioner is ordinarily granted bail. However, the respondent authority should have given details about the alleged bail order in similar cases, which has not been done in the present case. A mere ipse dixit statement in the grounds of detention cannot sustain the detention order and has to be ignored. 11.In our opinion, the detention order in question only contains ipse dixit regarding the alleged imminent possibility of the accused coming out on bail and there was no reliable material to this effect. Hence, the detention order in question cannot be sustained.''

6. In view of the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and in view of the aforesaid facts, this Court is of the view that the

detention order is liable to be quashed.

7. Accordingly, the detention order passed by the second respondent, in C3/D.O.No.90/2023, dated 08.09.2023, is hereby set aside and the Habeas Corpus Petition is allowed. The petitioner/detenu viz., Ramkumar, S/o. Mohan, aged 33 years, is directed to be set at liberty forthwith unless he is required in connection with any other case. [M.S.R., J] [S.M., J] 10.01.2024 Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order Internet: Yes/No Sni

To 1.The Secretary to the Government, Home Prohibition and Excise Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.

2.District Collector and District Magistrate, Vellore District, Vellore.

3.The Superintendent of Police, Vellore District, Vellore.

4.The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Vellore.

5.The Inspector of Police, Vellore PEW Police Station, Vellore District.

6.The Public Prosecutor, High Court, Madras.

M.S.RAMESH, J.

and SUNDER MOHAN, J.

Sni 10.01.2024