(1.) THIS writ petition has been filed by the brothers-in-law of the detenu under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus by quashing the order of detention dated 22. 10. 1987 passed against the detenu by the second respondent Collector and District magistrate of Kanyakumari District at Nagercoil, under Sec. 3 (1) of the Tamil nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Grabbers Act (XIV of 1982), with a view to prevent the detenu, Dhas alias Dhasan alias Yesu-dasah, from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of the public order.
(2.) THE main ground urged by Mr. S. Shanmughavelayutham, the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the detenu who comes from kanniyakumari District, is a person, whose mother-tongue is Malayalam; that he does not know to read and write either in Tamil or English, that the papers and the documents and the grounds of detention were furnished to him in Tamil and english and that the failure of furnishing copies of documents in Malayalam vitiates the order of detention passed against the detenu. In reply thereto, the second respondent Collector and District Magistrate of Kanniyakumari district at Nagercoil has submitted thus in paragraph 6 of his counter affidavit: "regarding the averments made in paragraph 5 (2) of the affidavit, this respondent submits that the detenus ia native of Kollengode in kanniyakumari District and since his birth he was living there and as such he is well-conversant with the Tamil language and very well speak and understand tamil. THE copies of documents including the detention order and the grounds of detention were translated in English and served on him and the contents of which have been read over and explained to him and the detenu has acknowledged the same. "