KANTHUBHAI KHANJI VAGHELA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioner-detenu has assailed the detention order recorded by the respondent no.2, the then District Magistrate, Patan on 04.3.2003, in purported exercise of powers under Sub Section [1] of Section 3 of the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980 [ " the P.B.M. Act" for short ] whereby the petitioner-detenu came to be detained for indulging in black marketing and illegally disposal of huge quantity of essential commodities, meant for the distribution of persons, covered under the Below Poverty Line Scheme in village Gochand, Taluka Sami, District Patan, wherein the petitioner was licenced to run fair price shop and was running a government authorized fair price shop in the name of "Shri Pandit Dindayal Grahak Bhandar", contending that the order of detention is illegal, invalid, null and void, arbitrary and unconstitutional.

(2.) The learned advocate appearing for the detenu has raised the following contentions at the time of hearing, which are seriously countered by the learned A.G.P.

(3.) After having heard the learned advocates appearing for the petitioner-detenu and the learned A.G.P. on behalf of the respondents and considering the order of detention, the grounds of detention and the entire documentary evidence placed on record, and upon its analysis and evaluation, this Court is of the opinion that the challenge against the questioned detention order is meritless, requiring no interference in exercise of extraordinary, equitable, prerogative, discretionary constitutional writ jurisdiction enshrined in Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the following reasons.:-