Selvam v. The Principal Secretary To Government
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 30.10.2023 CORAM :
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.SUNDAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.SAKTHIVEL Selvam ... Petitioner vs.
1. The Principal Secretary to Government, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Fort St.George, Chennai - 600 009.
2. The Commissioner of Police, Tiruchirappalli City, Tiruchirappalli.
3. The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Tiruchirappalli.
... Respondents Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a Writ of Habeas Corpus, calling for the records relating to the detention order passed by the second respondent in his proceedings C.No.50/detention/C.P.O/T.C/2023 dated 05.06.2023 and quash the same and direct the respondents to produce the detenu Palraj S/o. Durai, Male, aged 25 years who is now detained at Central Prison, Trichy before this Court and set him at liberty.
For Petitioner : Mr.S.Santhakumar For Respondents : Mr.A.Thiruvadi Kumar Additional Public Prosecutor Page No.1 of 9
O R D E R
[Order of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.] When the captioned 'Habeas Corpus Petition' [hereinafter 'HCP' for the sake of brevity] was listed in the Admission Board on 21.08.2023, a Hon'ble Coordinate Division Bench made the following order in the Admission Board:
2. It has now become necessary to set out a thumbnail sketch of factual matrix and we do so in the paragraphs infra. Page No.2 of 9
3. Today, the captioned matter is in the Final Hearing Board.
4. Mr.S.Santhakumar, learned counsel on record for petitioner and Mr.A.Thiruvadi Kumar, learned State Additional Public Prosecutor for all respondents are before us.
5. Captioned 'Habeas Corpus Petition' [hereinafter 'HCP' for the sake of convenience and clarity] has been filed by the brother of the detenu assailing the 'preventive detention order dated 05.06.2023 bearing reference in C.No.50/detention/C.P.O/T.C/2023' [hereinafter 'impugned preventive detention order' for the sake of brevity and convenience]. To be noted, sponsoring authority has not been arrayed as a respondent and we find that Station House Officer of All Women Police Station, Cantonment, Tiruchirappalli City, is the sponsoring authority [hereinafter 'sponsoring authority' for convenience and brevity] and second respondent is the detaining authority as impugned preventive detention order has been made by second respondent.
6. Impugned detention order has been made under 'The Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Cyber law Page No.3 of 9
offenders, Drug-offenders, Forest-offenders, Goondas, Immoral traffic offenders, Sand-offenders, Sexual-offenders, Slum-grabbers and Video Pirates Act, 1982 (Tamil Nadu Act No.14 of 1982)' [hereinafter 'Act 14 of 1982' for the sake of convenience and clarity] on the premise that the detenu is a 'Sexual Offender' within the meaning of Section 2(ggg) of Act 14 of 1982.
7. There is no adverse case. The ground case which constitutes sole substratum of the impugned preventive detention order is Crime No. 16 of 2023 on the file of All Women Police Station, Cantonment, Tiruchirappalli City, for alleged offences under Sections 450, 506(1), 354-A of 'Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860)' ['IPC' for the sake of brevity] read with 5(l), 6(1) of 'the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 [No.32 of 2012]' [hereinafter 'POCSO Act' for the sake of convenience and clarity] and Section 4 of Tamilnadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 2002, [hereinafter 'TNHWA' for the sake of brevity]. Considering the nature of the challenge to the impugned detention order, it is not necessary to delve into the factual matrix of the case.
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8. In the final hearing today, learned counsel predicated his campaign against the impugned preventive detention order on the point that the detenu was arrested on 22.04.2023 but the impugned preventive detention order has been made only on 05.06.2023 resulting in live and proximate link between grounds and purpose of detention getting snapped.
9. Mr.Thiruvadi Kumar, learned State Additional Public Prosecutor, submits that materials had to be collected and time was consumed in this exercise. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and nature of ground case, we find that this explanation of learned State Additional Public Prosecutor is unacceptable.
10. We remind ourselves of Sushanta Kumar Banik's case [Sushanta Kumar Banik Vs. State of Tripura & others reported in 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 813 : 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1333]. To be noted, Banik case arose under 'Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988' [hereinafter 'PIT NDPS Act' for the sake of brevity] in Tirupura, wherein after considering a proposal by a Sponsoring Authority and after noticing the trajectory the matter took, Page No.5 of 9
Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the 'live and proximate link between grounds of detention and purpose of detention snapping' point should be examined on a case to case basis. Hon'ble Supreme Court has held in Banik case law that this point has two facets. One facet is 'unreasonable delay' and the other facet is 'unexplained delay'. We find that the captioned matter falls under latter facet i.e., unexplained delay.
11. To be noted, Banik case has been respectfully followed by this Court in Gomathi Vs.The Principal Secretary to Government and others reported vide Neutral Citation of Madras High Court being 2023/MHC/334, Sadik Basha Yusuf Vs. The State of Tamil Nadu and others reported vide Neutral Citation of Madras High Court being 2023/MHC/733, Sangeetha Vs. The Secretary to the Government and others reported vide Neutral Citation of Madras High Court being 2023:MHC:1110, N.Anitha Vs. The Secretary to Government and others reported vide Neutral Citation of Madras High Court being 2023:MHC:1159 and a series of similar orders in HCP cases.
12. To be noted, the impugned preventive detention order is predicated on a solitary case viz., Crime No.16 of 2023 on the file of All Page No.6 of 9
Women Police Station, Cantonment, Tiruchirappalli City, for alleged offences inter-alia under Sections 450, 506(1), 354-A of IPC read with 5(l), 6(1) of POCSO Act and Section 4 of TNHWA and therefore this solitary case is the sole substratum of the impugned preventive detention order.
13. Before concluding, we also remind ourselves that preventive detention is not a punishment and HCP is a high prerogative writ.
14. Ergo, the sequitur is, captioned HCP is allowed. Impugned preventive detention order dated 05.06.2023 bearing reference in C.No. 50/detention/C.P.O/T.C/2023 made by the second respondent is set aside and the detenu Thiru.Palraj, aged about 25 years, son of Thiru.Durai, is directed to be set at liberty forthwith, if not required in connection with any other case / cases. There shall be no order as to costs. (M.S., J.) (R.S.V., J.) Index : Yes 30.10.2023 : Yes PKN P.S: Registry to forthwith communicate this order to Jail authorities in Central Prison, Tiruchirappalli.
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To
1. The Principal Secretary to Government, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Fort St.George, Chennai - 600 009.
2. The Commissioner of Police, Tiruchirappalli City, Tiruchirappalli.
3. The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Tiruchirappalli.
4. The Additional Public Prosecutor, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Madurai.
5. The Joint Secretary to Government, Public (Law and Order) Department, Secretariat, Chennai.
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M.SUNDAR, J.
and R.SAKTHIVEL, J.
PKN ORDER MADE IN DATED : 30.10.2023 Page No.9 of 9