PRASHANT KHURANA Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition has been filed against the impugned detention order dated 23-10-2000 passed under the Cofeposa which is said to have been served on the petitioner on 6-7-2001 vide Annexure-5 to the writ petition.

(2.) We have heard the learned counsel for the parties.

(3.) A perusal of the grounds of detention which has been annexed to the detention order shows that the allegations against the petitioner are that on 4-3-2000 at about 1 a.m. the Custom and Revenue authorities detained four persons including the peti-tioner travelling in the down train the Gora-khpur railway station. The petitioner and his associates on questioning accepted that they were secretly carrying foreign currency. They were brought to the office of the Reve-nue Intelligence Department, Gorakhpur where these persons took out two bundles of foreign currency each from their person and placed them before the authorities. This consisted of about 42,000 American dollars. These persons stated that they were taking these foreign currencies to Nepal for exchanging them for gold biscuits to take them to Punjab. They admitted that these foreign currencies have been obtained by smuglling gold biscuits from Nepal to India. They also admitted that earlier also they have committed such offences and have given the gold biscuits secretly to persons in India. They have obtained bail from the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Varanasi and have been released and it was apprehended that they will commit the same offence again. Hence the impugned detention order was passed against them.