NAND KISHORE BABULAL AGARWAL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Nandkishore Babulal Agarwal, who is the brother of the detenu Girdharlal Babulal Agarwal, has filed this petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India challenging the order of detention made in respect of the detenu by the District Magistrate, Kolaba, on 27th November, 1974 under sub-clause (iii) of Clause (a) of sub-section (1) read with Clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). The Order states that the Detaining Authority is satisfied with respect to the detenu that with a view to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies essential to the community, it is necessary to detain him.

(2.) The detenu was arrested on the date of the detention order itself. On the same day, he was furnished with the grounds of his detention as provided in section 8 of the Act. The grounds furnished are in these words :---

(3.) The petitioner in his petition bases his challenge to all the grounds generally that all or some of them are non-existent, vague, show non-application of mind or casual indifference on the part of the Detaining Authority, have no nexus with the object of detention, or too remote in point of time, and the Detaining Authority had arrived at its subjective satisfaction on the basis of material which had not been made known to the detenu in order to enable him to make an effective representation against the order of detention. In regard to the first ground, he has stated that it is no doubt true that truck No. BYW. 880 belongs to the detenu, but on 7th March, 1973, when it is stated to have been attached for the reason that 86 small bags of rice were found loaded in it, the truck had been given on hire by the driver of the detenu and it was the rice of this person which was on the truck. The truck has been registered as a public carrier for hire and the driver manages the work of giving the truck on hire. When the truck was thus accosted, the driver had made a statement that the rice bags found in the truck were of the person who had taken the truck on hire. The petitioner has filed a copy of the statement of the driver recorded by the Tahasildar on 7th March 1973 as an annexure to the petition at Ex. C. The petitioner thus contended that the detenu had nothing to do with the rice bags that were found loaded in the truck on 7th March, 1973. The petitioner denied that the detenu arrived on the spot in an Ambassador car bearing No. 7969 and contended that this was a false allegation, inasmuch as the said car was in a workshop known as Narayan Auto Works at Cadell Road, Dadar, on 7th March, 1973 for major repairs and was totally immobilised on that date. The petitioner thus contended that the detenu had absolutely no connection with the bags of rice that were fount loaded in the truck on 7th March, 1973.