NATHU RAM Vs. ADMINISTRATOR OF DEHLI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners in these writ petitions are father and son Nathu Ram being the father and Rajinder Kumar Jinder being the son. Both of them had been detained by detention order passed separately and on different dates, under the provisions of section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980 (for short the Act) passed by the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, respondent No 2 herein.

(2.) THE detention order against Nathu Ram was passed on 17th November, 1988, which was approved by the Administrator of Union Territory Delhi in exercise of power under section 3(4) of the Act and confirmed finally under section 12(1) of the Act by order dated 28th December. 1988; whereas the detention order against Rajinder Kumar was passed on 28th October, 1988. to which approval was accorded by the Administrator on 7th November, 1988 and the confirmation order was passed on 27th December, 1988. The detention order in both the cases was with the object of preventing them from acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.

(3.) MR . K.K. Sood appearing for the petitioner primarily urged two grounds by making detailed reference to the grounds of detention; the first being that the detention order had been clamped upon the petitioners in colourable exercise of power and that there was no incident having a bearing on the issue of public order and that at the most the cases arose under the ordinary provisions of the Indian Penal Code and were registered as such and thus the provisions of Section 3(2) of the Act could not be invoked and the order of detention was not sustainable. The other plea is interlinked to the first one to the effect that there was no compelling necessity, in any event, for preventive detention of the petitioners, inasmuch as both of them were in judicial custody, in connection with the last mentioned case in the grounds of detention, and there was no rational basis for the subjective satisfaction that they were required to be preventively detained to prevent them from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.