HIRA LAL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition has been broght under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking quashment of detention order dated January 19, 1988, passed by respondent No. 2 under Section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (for short COFEPOSA Act') and declaration dated February 4, 1988, issued under Section 9(1) of COFEPOSA Act.

(2.) On October 15, 1987 the petitioner was arrested alongwith other co-detenu and a recovery of contraband gold biscuits of foreign origin Weighing 25.663 kgs. valued at Rs. 79 lakhs was effected from a Maruti Car at the instance of the petitioner and the said contraband gold was seized. Detention orders have been made against S/Shri Sat Pal Bhandari, Ravinder Kumar Bhandari, Puran Singh and the present petitioner.

(3.) One of the grounds pleaded in challenging the impugned orders is that the detention order is dated January 19, 1988, whereas the grounds of detention are dated January 21, 1988, which makes the detention of the petitioner illegal. It has been pleaded on behalf of the petitioner that the grounds of detention have not been prepared and approved by the authority concerned on the date on which the detention order was made. However, in the counter-affidavit filed by Shri A. S. Dagar, Deputy Secretary (Home), Delhi Administration, it has been pleaded that the draft detention order and the grounds of detention were prepared and approved by the detaining authority simultaneously and contemporaneously whereas the order of detention was issued on January 19, 1988 and the grounds of detention were supplied to the detenu on January 21, 1988, within the stipulated period.