PRABHAKAR MAHADEO PAKALE Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY the Order dated 26th November, 1988 bearing no 14-11-88-HD (G) issued by the State Government under Section 3 (1)of the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling activities Act, 1974 Mangaldas Gajanan Kanakar was taken in detention on 2nd December, 1988 with a view to preventing him from abetting the smuggling of goods. Since that day Kanekar, for short, the Detenu is in central Aguada Jail in preventive detention. His next friend Shri prabhakar Mahadeo Pokale who claims to be interested in the life, welfare and personal liberty of the Detenu seeks a writ of Habeas corpus.

(2.) TO the challenges made in this petition, it may not be necessary to refer to the grounds of detention nor what led to the making of the detention Order dated 25th November, 1988 whereunder the Detenu was ta ken in detention on 2nd December, 1988. However, a small fact may be referred to and that is the very petitioner had earlier challenged the detention of the Detenu by Criminal Writ Petition No. 43/88 on certain grounds That petition was however disposed of by a Division bench of this Court to which one of us (Kamat, J.) was a party on 25th February, 1989. The Writ Petition was dismissed with the result the order of detention remained in force. The present petition is directed challenging the validity of the same detention order however on different grounds.

(3.) THOUGH this petition challenges the detention order on several grounds Shri Desai, learned Counsel for the detenu urged grounds No (vii) and (viii) which relate to the inordinate delay in considering the representation. We may usefully transcribe grounds No. (vii) and (viii)which are as under:-