PUJA PANDEY Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed praying for a writ of habeas corpus by the petitioner, who is the wife of the detenue Yogendra Dev Pandey. The detenue was arrested on 17.12.2019 in connection with crime no.207/2017. He was sent on police remand by the order of the Magistrate and he remained with the Police in their custody from 17.12.2019 to 19.12.2019. He was sent to judicial custody on 19.12.2019. The detention order is dated 17.12.2019. The grounds of detention was served on the husband of the petitioner on 19.12.2019 and the said order of detention is stated to have been approved by the State Government on 27.12.2019.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are that on 14.12.2019, Sub- Inspector PS Crime Branch Bhopal received information that a tanker bringing milk from Chilling Plant Multai, shall stop at a restaurant (dhaba), wherein the driver shall take out milk and instead of that he shall mix water and urea of that quantity. Thereafter the Sub-Inspector reached the Dhaba at 9.00, where the milk tanker bearing registration No.MP-13-H-2178 was parked. As soon as the Police approached, a man started running who was identified as Gopal. The Sub-Inspector found the driver of the tanker Farhan and upon inspection of the tanker found that the seal of the tanker lid was broken. The driver Farhan disclosed that the tanker was on contract with the Bhopal Diary Cooperative Federation Sanchi and belonged to the husband of the petitioner. As per the contract, the milk was to be transported from the chilling plant at Multai to the Bhopal Milk Federation at Habibganj, Bhopal, where it is to be delivered. The driver of the tanker has stated to have disclosed that after breaking open the seal Gopal (the person who ran away from the scene of occurrence) takes out the milk from the tanker which is taken away and sold in the open market and in order to replenish the quantity of milk, water and urea is mixed by them in the milk tanker. It is on the statement of the driver who said that he had been instructed to do thus by the husband of the petitioner, that he was arrested.

(3.) Before his arrest, the husband of the petitioner addressed a letter to the DIG Bhopal range on 15.12.2019, which is Annexure- B to the rejoinder filed by the petitioner. By the said letter, the husband of the petitioner informed the Police that is literally impossible to remove milk or adulterate it once it is filled in the tanker, as before the tanker leaves the Multai Chilling Plant it is sealed. The seal is only opened when it reaches its destination in Bhopal. If the seal is found broken, the milk in the entire tanker is rejected by the milk federation. He further states that before the milk is accepted at its destination it is tested by the milk federation for purity, consistency and adulteration. If the sample fails, once again the milk in the entire tanker is rejected.