S JAHUBAR ALI Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, being the detenu himself seeks writ of habeas corpus as against the order of detention passed against him dated 24.7.2002 by the first respondent.

(2.) The petitioner came to be detained under COFEPOSA as a result of his having been intercepted in the presence of independent witnesses by the Officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Chennai when he alighted at the International Airport on 31.5.2002 from Sri Lankan Flight UL 123 from Colombo. When he arrived, he brought with him four checked in baggages, three of which were found with baggage tags bearing his name and the remaining one was not having any baggage tag. The petitioner had declared the value of the goods brought by him as Rs.55,000/-. On verification, the Department Officials came to the conclusion that the actual assessable value of the property was more than the declared value, namely about Rs.23,00,000/- Hence, the detention order.

(3.) Considering that the petitioner is entitled to succeed on a point discussed below, we are not referring to all the points raised by the petitioner.