MOHAMMED SAFI NOOR MOHAMMED, BROTHER OF DETENU SABBIR @ SABBO MEHMOOD MALEK Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this Special Civil Application, the petitioner has challenged the order dated 25th March, 2003 passed by the District Magistrate, Bharuch against the brother of the petitioner, Sabbir @ Sabbo Mehmood Malek, (hereinafter referred to as"the detenu" for the sake of brevity) in exercise of powers conferred upon the District Magistrate vide Section 3(1) of the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as"the PASA Act" for short), declaring the detenu to be a bootlegger within the meaning of Section 2(b) of the PASA Act. The detenu came to be detained in pursuance of the order dated 25th March, 2003 on 10th April, 2003.

(2.) The grounds for detention, which are placed on record and served upon the detenu, clearly reveals that the detaining authority placed reliance on two aspects of the matter. Firstly, the detaining authority relied upon the five offences registered against the detenu under Sections 66-B, 65-AE, 81, 83 and 116 of the Bombay Prohibition Act, and secondly, the detaining authority relied upon the three statements of the witnesses recorded by the proposing authority in camera on 21st February, 2003, 17th February, 2003 and 7th March, 2003. In these three statements, incidents occurred on 12th February, 2003, 10th January, 2003 and 1st March, 2003 are revealed by the witnesses, whose identities are concealed. The statements are verified by the detaining authority on 17th March, 2003. It is pertinent to note that the detaining authority, in the grounds served upon the detenu, came to the conclusion that the illegal activities of the detenu could not be prevented because the detenu resided in Muslim area. From the above facts, the detaining authority passed the order impugned in this petition.

(3.) Mr. S.H. Sanjanwala, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, and Ms. Mita Panchal, learned AGP for the respondents, were heard at length. The learned AGP has placed on record an affidavit filed by the District Magistrate, Bharuch, the detaining authority, which is also considered.