RATHINAM Vs. STATE AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is the wife of one Murugan alias Mottai Murugan (hereinafter referred to as "the detenu"), who was ordered to be detained by an order dated 22.7.2004 of the first respondent herein branding him as a Drug Offender under Section 3(1) of the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug -Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum -Grabbers Act, 1982 (for brevity the "Tamil Nadu Act 14 of 1982"), of course based on a ground case said to have taken place on 9.7.2004 at 7.00 a.m. when the police party, on the information of their informant, caught hold of the detenu and found the detenu holding a yellow colour bag. When the bag was opened it was found that the bag contained an object wrapped up in the newspaper. The newspaper was unfolded and the object was found to be 1 kg of ganja. The police party following the procedures, sent two samples of 25 Grams each of ganja for chemical examination and the balance of 950 Grams of ganja was wrapped in the same newspaper, put in the same yellow bag, tied with twine and a seal was affixed. Thereafter, a case was registered in Crime No. 275 of 2004 under Section 8(c) read with Section 20(b)(ii)(A) of the Tamil Nadu Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and the detenu was remanded to judicial custody.

(2.) THE detaining authority also referred to 6 adverse cases registered against the detenu in the impugned order, which are extracted as follows: -

(3.) MR . G.R. Swaminathan, learned counsel for the petitioner attacks the impugned order of detention on two grounds: -