BATKO BOGDAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner who is a foreign national, has been detained vide order dated October 24, 1989, passed by respondent No. 2 under Section 3 (1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, with a view to preventing him from smuggling goods.

(2.) THE facts of the case, in brief, are that according to some prior intelligence information the petitioner alongwith four other foreign nationals, out of whom two others were Polish nationals holding Polish Passport, one was holding Israel Passport and fifth one was having German Passport, were apprehended when they got down at New Delhi Railway Station on September 22, 1989. from Vaishali Express from same coach and during the search of the petitioners' baggage two pairs of shoes were recovered, one of which was found to contain 35 gold biscuits of ten tolas each and the second was found to contain 31 gold biscuits of ten tolas each. Two video cameras were also recovered from his baggage. Gold biscuits of different quantities were recovered from personal search and baggage of the each of the other four co detenus.

(3.) THE first contention raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that there was no compelling necessity for the detaining authority to have passed the detention order in as such as the petitioner was already in Jail and there was no literal disclosed in the grounds of detention which could have satisfied the detaining authority that the petitioner was likely to be released on bail in some near future. He has placed reliance on Dharmendra Suganchand Chelawat v. Union of India and others, 1990(1) Recent Criminal Reports 446 : IJ 1990(1) SC 184.