SUVARNA MALA VENKATESH DESAI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner is the wife of one Venkatesh Atmaram Desai who is detained under the provisions of section 3(1) of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, hereinafter referred to as the COFEPOSA Act. She seeks in this petition for a writ of Habeas Corpus the quashing of the order of detention made against her husband as well as of declaration under section 9(1) and his consequent release. The order of detention was purportedly made with a view to preventing the detenu from abetting the smuggling of goods by the third respondent and served along with the grounds of detention and the list of documents relied upon on 17th June, 1986 and the declaration under section 9(1) of the COFEPOSA Act, ostensibly issued by the second respondent because the detenu is likely to abet the smuggling of goods, was served on him on 19th July, 1986.

(2.) The relevant facts that lead to the making of the aforesaid order and declaration as revealed in the grounds of detention may be stated. On information received on 19th February, 1986 that, landing of contraband goods of foreign origin had taken place somewhere at Calvim, Goa, on the night of 17th/18th February, 1986, the Customs Officers initiated an investigation and in the course thereof, one Kalidas Kashinath Raikar was interrogated. He admitted that his truck bearing registration No. GDS 6619 had been used in the transportation of contraband goods on the night of 17th/18th February, 1986 and taken to the Duler Petrol Pump near Mapsua. As a result of this information, the Customs Officer proceeded to the said place but the truck was not found and on search was discovered near the Mapsua Fish Market on 19th February, 1986. The said truck was loaded with 141 packages of contraband. In the course of the interrogation of said Kalidas, it was disclosed that one Sunil Natekar was to come to the Duler Petrol Pump to escort the truck with the contraband goods to some unknown destination. Accordingly, the Customs Officers went back to the said petrol pump and apprehended Sunil Natekar, who on being interrogated admitted that he had arranged the landing of contraband goods on the night of 17th/18th February, 1986 at a place known as Patim, near Calvim at the Britona creek. He also disclosed that the contraband goods were to be transported in a truck bearing Registration No. GDS 6527 and to be stored in farm near Honda Village. As a result of this information, the Custom Officers along with the said Natekar proceeded to the said firm and they found an empty truck bearing Registration No. GDS 6527 near Kapdi Bhojanalaya at Bhicholim. They proceeded further and found in a farm belonging to the Honda Saleli Village Panchayat 74 packages of contraband goods. All the packages recovered either at Mapsua or Honda, were containing foreign origin goods consisting of wrist watches, video cassettes, tapes, button cells, goggles, spectacle frames and television sets etc., with the market value of about Rs. 77,82,516/-. The investigation further revealed that the said contraband goods had been transhipped from an Arab Dhow to two fishing trawlers and brought to Britona and thereafter, taken to the said two places at Duler and Honda. It was further disclosed that goods taken in the truck GDS 6527 had been unloaded and stored at Honda Saleli Panchayat farm during the night of 18th February, 1986 in accordance with a prior arrangement between Sunil Natekar and one Sadguru Rama Parab with the sarpanch of Honda Saleli village panchayat by name Krishnarao Appaji Rane. The said Krishnarao Rane had also kept 200 bags of charcoal ready for the purpose of covering and camouflaging the consignment of contraband goods during its transportation to Bombay. These charcoal bags had been kept in the said farm with help of the detenu. The investigation also revealed that on 15th February, 1986 the said Krishnarao Appaji Rane had requested the detenu at arrange the filling up of charcoal at his store of Saleli saying that said bags filled with charcoal were required to cover the contraband goods of foreign origin which were to be brought to Honda panchayat farm by a person hailing from Sawantwadi Taluka in Maharashtra, and that latter on, the said Krishnarao Rane told the detenu to remove the bags of charcoal which had been earlier filled by him with the help of his brother and hired labourers.

(3.) On basis of this material, the Detaining Authority stated in paragraph 36 of the grounds of detention that he was fully convinced that there was sufficient cases to pass the detention order against the detenu with a view to preventing him from abetting the smuggling of goods.