TARUN SEN DEKA AND ORS Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A Division Bench of this Court consisting of the learned Chief Justice and my learned brother Thadani J. heard the petitions of 14 persons detained by District Magistrates under the Assam Maintenance of Public Order Act 1947 (Assam Act v. [5] of 1947). The petitions were all Under Section 491, Criminal P.C. The order of the Bench disposed of 12 petitions. In the case of the two petitioners, namely, Bijoy Kumar Das and Sukbomoy Chakravarty, the learned Judges could not agree as to the appropriate orders and directed that these cases be placed before a third Judge. The decision of two more petitions under 6. 491, Criminal P.C. turns on the same question which arises in the aforesaid petitions. These are NoSection 17 and 19 of 1948 and they have also been included in the reference. This order will dispose of all the four petitions.

(2.) Both Bijoy and Sukhomoy were ordered to be detained by separate orders of the District Magistrate of Goalpara, The orders were passed on sits May and 21st June 1948 respectively and are in identical terms. The operative part of the order in both the cases was as follows:

(3.) The period of detention was, as is clear from the order, six months in each case.