ARBAJ @ BABAN IQBAL SHAIKH Vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition, the petitioner/detenu is challenging the order of his detention dated 3 rd December 2018 passed by the first respondent under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Dangerous Persons, Video Pirates, Sand Smugglers and Persons Engaged in Black-Marketing of Essential Commodities Act, 1981, (hereinafter referred to as "the said Act" for the sake of brevity). By the said impugned order passed under Section 3(2) of the said Act, by recording satisfaction that the petitioner is a dangerous person and it is necessary to detain him in order to prevent him from acting in a manner prejudicial to maintenance of public order, the respondent no.1 had ordered detention of petitioner/detenu Arbaz Baban Iqbal Shaikh.

(2.) Though Mr.Tripathi, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner raised several legal contentions in order to challenge the order of detention passed by the respondent no.1 and its subsequent approval by the State, in our view, in the facts of the present case, this criminal writ petition deserves to be allowed only on the ground which we indicate hereinafter.

(3.) Ground No.5(h) raised by the petitioner/detenu needs to be reproduced for appreciating the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner. According to him, there is delay in considering the representation sent to the State and the law mandates that such a representation should be decided within reasonable dispatch as per mandate of Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India. The learned counsel for the petitioner urged that there is no plausible explanation for inordinate delay in deciding the representation. The relevant portion of ground raised in this regard is found in paragraph 5(h), which reads thus :