LADHAJI MAVAJI JAIN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition seeks to challenge an order of detention passed by the Additional Secretary to the Government of India under section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, hereinafter referred to as "the COFEPOSA Act", against on Babulal Ladhaji Jain, who is the son of the present petitioner and who will hereinafter be referred to as "the detenu". That order is of 25th November, 1982 and recites to state that with a view to preventing the detenu from acting in any manner prejudicial to the argumentation of foreign exchange it was necessary to detain him under the provisions of the said Act. By a communication of the same date, namely 25th of November, 1982, the detenu was supplied with the grounds of detention and this commutation is annexed as Annexure B to this petition. In order to appreciate the various lines of attack made by Mr. Karmali, the learned advocate appearing in support of the petition, against the order of detention it would be necessary to briefly refer to the material disclosed in the grounds of detention.

(2.) Annexure B mentions that on 14th of June, 1982, information was received by the Bombay Zonal Office of the Directorate of Enforcement that the detenu was indulging in unauthorised purchase and sale of foreign exchange on a large scale and that he was acting as a sort of wholesale purchaser/seller on behalf of small scale foreign exchange racketeers. Paragraph 2 of the said Annexure B mentions that in pursuance of the information so received, the business-cum-residential premises of the detenu were searched on 15th of June, 1982. This search yielded U.S. Dollars 12,560, Pakistani Rs. 5,000 and Indian Currency of Rs. 1,46,500. Certain documents were also seized from the said premises under a panchanama. During the course of a search, a person described in the annexure as Pyarelal Walimohammed Lakhani was seen entering the premises and on search his person the Enforcement Officer recovered U.S. Dollars 1,625, Canadian Dollars 20 and U.A.E. Dirhams 50. This fact is mentioned in Annexure B

(3.) Thereafter Annexure B proceeds to mention the fact of a statement having been made by the detenu before the Enforcement Officer and the contents of that statement have been broadly summarised. Paragraph 4 of Annexure B summarises the contents of a statement made by Pyarelal Wailmohammed Lakhani on 15th of June, 1982. In paragraph 5 it is mentioned that the detenu was arrested under section 35 of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act. 1973 and after he was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on 16th of June, 1982 he was released on bail on 23rd of June, 1982.