SWARAN SINGH KHALSA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE challenge here is to the order of the District Magistrate, Amritsar of March 17, 1987 under sub-sectons (2) and (3) of Section 3 of the National Security Act, 1980 (hereinafter refered to as 'the Act').

(2.) THE impugned order of detention was passed and served upon the petitioner when he was already in custody having been arrested on February 18, 1987, for offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1985 and Section 25 of the Arms Act. This prior arrest of the petitioner for these offences is what now constitutes the foundation of the infirmity imputed to the impugned order of detention. Relied upon in this behalf being the judgment of the Supreme Court in Benod Singh v. District Magistrate, Dhanbad, Bihar and others, AIR 1986 Supreme Court 2090, which was followed in Crl. Writ Petition No. 1100 of 1987, (Satnam Singh v. Punjab State) decided on November 3, 1987. In Benod Singh's case (supra), it was held that where an order of detention under Section 3(2) of the Act is served upon a detenu who is already in jail in respect of a serious charge like murder and there is no indication that this factor or the question that the said detenu might be released or that there was such a possibility of his release, was taken into consideration by the dataining authority properly and seriously before the service of the order of detention, the continued detention of the detenu, under the Act, could not be justified.

(3.) SUCH being the situation here, the impugned order of detention cannot be sustained and is consequently hereby quashed.