BALDEV SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Baldev Singh alias Deba Adhi through present petition filed under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India seeks issuance of a writ directing the respondents to release him by setting aside the order dated 23rd of January, 1989 passed by the State of Punjab respondent No. 1 (Annexure P-1) under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (here inafter referred to as the Act). There are number of grounds asking for setting aside the detention order but Mr. R. S. Ghai, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner has confined his arguments to basically one point which shall be noted hereinafter as according to him if the said point itself is suffi cient for quashing the detention order, then there arises no necessity, at all, in examining other points. Before, however, the solitary argument raised by the learned Counsel is noticed, it shall be useful to trace the facts of the case though briefly.

(2.) On the intervening night of 14/ 15/05/1988, a special make was laid in the area of village Bharopel between BP No. 119/8-10 by the BSF, on the basis of an information. At about 00.45 hrs. the naka party observed the movements of three persons who were coming from Pakistan side. When they came closer to the naka party, they were challenged to stop and fired upon by the naka party and two of them escaped towards village Daoke side and the third managed to escape towards Bharopal side leaving behind the torn shirt and cloth Vansali containing gold biscuits. On search of the area, five more Vansalies of gold and two chaddar were recov ered. The recovered six Vansalies were opened in the presence of BSP Officers and these were found to contain 459 gold biscuits of ten tolas each bearing foreign markings. Two chits written in Urdu were also recovered from the said Vansalies. The allega tion against the petitioner is that these gold biscuits were to be delivered to him and his brother Sukhdev Singh. At other place in the grounds of detention it is also mentioned that on Gurmukh Singh alias Billa had brought the slips from the petitioner and that the consignment of recovered gold biscuits were to be delivered to petitioner's younger brother Sukhdev Singh alias Sukha. Before the matter may proceed, it requires to be mentioned here that so far as Sukhdev Singh is concerned, the detention order against him was revoked by the Government on the advice of the Advisory Board.

(3.) It is an admitted position that whereas the occurrence is of the year 1988, the order of detention was passed on 23rd of January, 1989. The order of detention was executed in July 1994. Mr. Ghai learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner contends that unexplained delay in executing the detention order in itself would be enough to set aside the detention order Annexure P-1. For his aforesaid stand, the learned Counsel relies upon the judgment of the Supreme Court in P. U. Iqbal v. Union of India, 1992 Criminal Appeal Reports 53 : 1992 Cri LJ 2924.