MAHESHWARI Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenge is made to an order of detention made by the second respondent herein in Cr.M.P. No. 1/PBM MSEC - Act/2009 whereby the husband of the petitioner one Selvaraj was detained under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980, branding him as a Black Marketeer.

(2.) The Court heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and looked into the materials available including the order under challenge.

(3.) It is not in controversy that pursuant to the recommendations made by the sponsoring authority that an adverse case in Coimbatore Civil Supplies CID Crime No. 799 of 2008 was registered against the detenu for an occurrence that took place on 11.9.2008 at about 600 hours when he was found in possession of 80 bags of PDS rice each weighing 50 kg. and 53 packets of palm oil each weighing 1 kg, and the said case came to be registered under Section 6(4) of TNSC (RDCS) Order 1982 read with 7(1)a(ii) of Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and there was another ground case that on 31.1.2009 at about 600 hours, he was also found in possession of 140 bags of PDS rice, and he was actually arrested, and a case came to be registered in Crime No. 45 of 2009 by Coimbatore Civil Supplies Criminal Investigation Department under Section 6(4) of TNSC (RDCS) Order 1982 read with 7(l)a(ii) of Essential Commodities Act, 1955, on perusal and scrutiny of the materials available, the detaining authority also recorded its subjective satisfaction that it was a fit case where he has got to be branded as a black marketeer since his activities are prejudicial to the public distribution system, and in order to prevent him from doing so, the order has got to be passed, and accordingly made the order which is the subject matter of challenge in this petition.