DALIP SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in the present and connected habeas corpus petitions are the members of the Communist party of India who have been ordered to be detained under rule 30(1)(b) of the Defence of India Rules by the Punjab Government. One of the main grounds on which the detention has been assailed is that though the order for detention was made formally by the Punjab Government it was pursuance of a direction issued by Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda Union Home Minister that the petitioners were ordered to be detained. It is contended that the State Government did not independently take its decision to detain the petitioners and merely carried out the behest of the Union Home Minister. This contention has been resisted on behalf of the respondents and it is averred that the decision to detain the petitioners was taken by the State Government independently. As the matter is of some importance and arises in a large number of petitions, I am of the view that to secure an authoritative pronouncement on the subject it should be decided by a larger Bench. I accordingly direct that papers may be laid before my Lord the Chief Justice for referring the matter to a larger Bench.

(2.) In the case of R.P. Manchanda, the order is dated the 5th of April, 1963. It reads :-

(3.) The petitions of the Left Wing Communists have been referred to a larger Bench by my learned brother Khanna, J., because of the importance of the point raised that although the order of detention of the petitioners were formally made by the Punjab Government it was in pursuance of a directive issued by Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda, the Union Home Minister, and it was contended that the State Government did not independently take the decision to detain the petitioners. The petition of R.P. Manchanda was also referred by my learned brother because of the difficulty and importance of the point raised that the order was made by Shri Darbara Singh in his capacity as Home Minister, and according to the Business of the Punjab Government Darbara Singh could not pass an order for the detention of the petitioner in his capacity as Home Minister. The point also arises in connection with the detention of the Left Wing Communists.