SATNAM SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Times out of number the Supreme Court has emphasized that where the liberty of an individual is curtailed under the law of preventive detention, the representation, if any, made by the detenu must be attended to, dealt with and considered with watchful care and reasonable promptitude, lest the safeguards provided in Article 22(5) of the Constitution and other statutes be stultified and rendered meaningless.

(2.) Learned counsel for the parties agree that where a declaration under Section 9(1) of the COFEPOSA Act in respect of a particular detenu has been issued, he has the right to make a representation under Section 11(1) against his continued detention. The dispute in this writ petitions as to which of the authority has the right or the jurisdiction to dispose of the said representation.

(3.) The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that such a representation has to be dealt with and disposed of by an officer superior to the authority who issued the declaration under Section 9(1) of the Act or in any case by some other officer of the same rank. The submission of the respondents is that such a representation can be disposed of by the same officer who made the declaration in his capacity as the officer of the Central Government and can also deal with the representation under Section 11(1) (b) as the Central Government, being so lawfully constituted, and this will be a due compliance of the requirement of Section 11(1).