KRISHNA KANTA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) KRISHNA Kanta Bagh, petitioner was detained under the Preventive Detention Act of 1950, as amended by Act 4 of 1951, by the order of the District Magistrate, Nowgong, dated 8 -8 -1951. He has challenged the validity of his detention, by a petition to this Court.

(2.) THE grounds of detention supplied to the petitioner were as follows :

(3.) IT is beyond the province of this Court to enter into the question whether the statements of fact made in the grounds supplied to the petitioner are true or not. It is a matter for the consideration of the Advisory Board. The learned counsel contended in the alternative that if any case was pending then, as held in - -'Labaram Deka v. State', AIR 1951 Assam 43, the order of detention would be improper. That case is distinguishable and is of no assistance to the learned counsel. In that case, the petitioners were already in detention. This fact was overlooked. Besides, there was the fact that the only ground which formed the basis of detention formed the subject -matter of a case that was sub judice. The detention could be justified only on that ground. The situation is very different in this case. Here the petitioner was not already in detention, nor is the detention order based only on the statement contained in ground No. 2. On the other hand, it is obvious that the learned District Magistrate merely referred to the case alleged to have been sub judice in May 1951, to bring out that, according to his information, the petitioner was an incorrigible smuggler, as his smuggling activities had continued even in June ana July 1951. He gave the dates in June and July, 1951 on which the petitioner was believed to have smuggled rice out of the cordoned area. The order of detention does not rest on ground No. 2 alone; the detention, therefore, cannot be held to be illegal even if there was any case pending against the petitioner arising out of any one transaction.