K. SURESH KUMAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition(Crl.) is instituted seeking a writ of habeas corpus directing the respondents to produce the body of Naveen Suresh, the son of the petitioner who is detained in terms of Ext.P1 order issued under Sec. 3 of the Kerala Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (the Act), and to set him at liberty.

(2.) Ext.P1 order proceeds on the premise that the detenu, who is a 'known rowdy' in terms of the provisions of the Act, needs to be detained in order to prevent him from committing further anti-social activities. It is alleged in Ext.P1 order that the detenu has indulged in various prejudicial activities, the last of which is his involvement in Crime No.841 of 2022 of Vizhinjam Police Station. It is stated that the occurrence which is the subject matter of the said crime took place on 27/7/2022. The detenu was arrested in the case on 5/8/2022 and he was released on bail on 24/9/2022.

(3.) Although several grounds have been raised in the writ petition to impugn the detention order, the main ground urged by the learned counsel for the petitioner at the time of hearing is that the impugned order was passed without considering the application for bail preferred by the detenu in Crime No.841 of 2022 and the order passed thereon. According to the learned counsel, inasmuch as the the application for bail and the order passed thereon were not considered by the detaining authority in the matter of rendering its subjective satisfaction necessary to detain the detenu under the Act to prevent him from indulging in further anti-social activities, the detention order is vitiated for non-application of mind, for it is incumbent on the part of the detaining authority to consider whether the bail conditions are sufficient to prevent the detenu from continuing to indulge in anti-social activities.