R.Usha v. The State Of Tamil Nadu
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 01.02.2023 Coram The Hon'ble Mr. Justice M.SUNDAR and The Hon'ble Mr. Justice M.NIRMAL KUMAR H.C.P. No.2691 of 2022 R.Usha W/o.Raja ... Petitioner(wife of detenu) -vs1.The State of Tamil Nadu, Rep. by its Secretary to Government Prohibition & Excise Department [Home] Fort St. George, Chennai - 600 009.
2.The District Collector and District Magistrate, Thirupathur District, Thirupathur District Collectorate, Thirupathur.
3.The Superintendent of Police, Vellore District, Vellore.
4.The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Vellore.
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5.The Inspector of Police, Civil Supplies C.I.D., Vellore Unit, Vellore District.
... Respondents Habeas Corpus Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus to produce the body of the detenu namely Raja, aged about 43 years, son of Deivasigamani before this Court and set him at liberty forthwith, by calling for the records pertaining to the detention order C3.D.O.No.54/2022 dated 12.10.2022 passed by the second respondent and quash the same.
For Petitioner ..
Mr.K.Madhu For Respondents ..
Mr.R.Muniyapparaj Additional Public Prosecutor
ORDER
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.] Captioned 'Habeas Corpus Petition' [hereinafter 'HCP' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity] has been filed in this Court on 22.12.2022 by the wife of the detenu assailing a detention order dated 12.10.2022 bearing reference C3.D.O.No.54/2022 [hereinafter 'impugned detention order' for the sake of brevity, convenience and clarity]. The impugned 2/7
detention order has been made by the second respondent, i.e. 'jurisdictional District Collector and District Magistrate' who shall hereinafter be referred as 'detaining authority' for the sake of convenience and clarity. 2.Mr.K.Madhu, learned counsel on record for petitioner and Mr.R.Muniyapparaj, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the respondents are before us.
3.To be noted, the impugned detention order has been made interalia under the Prevention of Blackmarketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980 [Act 7 of 1980] [hereinafter 'Blackmarketing and EC Act' for the sake of convenience and clarity]. 4.Notwithstanding very many averments in the support affidavit, learned counsel for petitioner predicated his argument on one point and that point turns on Section 8(1) of Blackmarketing and EC Act which mandates that the authority making the detention order should communicate the grounds to the detenu ordinarily not later than five days from the date of 3/7
detention. In the case on hand, the grounds that have been served on the detenu who is incarcerated, in the form of booklet has been placed before us. A careful perusal of the booklet brings to light that the grounds qua the impugned detention order has been served on the detenu on 17.10.2022. This is clearly later than five days from the date of detention. A careful perusal of Section 8(1) of Blackmarketing and EC Act brings to light that there is a distinction between ordinary circumstances and exceptional circumstances. It is nobody's case that there are exceptional circumstances in the case on hand. Therefore, five days is the cap. In the case on hand, the grounds of detention has been communicated to the detenu later than five days. Therefore, there is a clear infraction of Section 8(1) of Blackmarketing and EC Act. This one point is good enough to dislodge the detention.
5.As the matter turns on obtaining facts/borne out of records and the booklet which has been placed before us, the question of contra arguments by the State Counsel really does not arise.
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6.Ergo, the sequitur is, captioned HCP is allowed and the detention order dated 12.10.2022 bearing reference C3.D.O.No.54/2022 is set aside and the detenu Raja, aged 47 years, son of Deivasigamani is directed to be set at liberty forthwith unless required in connection with any other case. There shall be no order as to costs.
(M.S,J.) (M.N.K.,J.) 01.02.2023 Index:Yes cse Note: The Registry to forthwith communicate this order to Jail authorities in Central Prison, Vellore. 5/7
To
1. The Secretary to Government Prohibition & Excise Department [Home] Fort St. George, Chennai - 600 009.
2.The District Collector and District Magistrate, Thirupathur District, Thirupathur District Collectorate, Thirupathur.
3.The Superintendent of Police, Vellore District, Vellore.
4.The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Vellore.
5.The Inspector of Police, Civil Supplies C.I.D., Vellore Unit, Vellore District.
6.The Public Prosecutor, High Court of Madras, Chennai - 104.
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M.SUNDAR, J.
and M.NIRMAL KUMAR, J.
cse H.C.P.No.2691 of 2022 01.02.2023 7/7