MISRILAL Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three cases have been refd. to us under Clause 28, Letters Patent of this Ct. on a difference of opinion between my brethren Das & Narayan JJ. The point refd. to us for our consideration has been stated by them as follows:

(2.) THE three persons concerned in these applns. are Raghunandan Prasad in Cr. Misc. No. 614 of 1950, Biswanath Prasad in Cr. Misc. No. 619 of 1950, & Misri Lal, Tailor, in Cr. Misc. No. 581 of 1950. THE grounds of detention served upon Raghunandan Prasad state the following facts, Raghunandan Prasad of Shankar Flour Mills & Biswanath Prasad, cycle-repairer, have their shops adjacent to each other. Misri Lal, Tailor, lives at the back of this block of shops. A back door of the shop of Bishwanath Prasad opens in the house of Misri Lal. THE Sab-divisional Officer of Patna Sadar on receiving information that stone powder was being mixed withdata (flour), made a surprise raid on 22-9-1950, in the aforesaid three buildings. Thirty-five bags of stone powder were found in the premises occupied by Bishwanath Prasad. A trail of stone powder was noticed going in the direction of the house of Misri Lal, & in that house one bag of stone powder was recovered. Some adulterateddata was also recovered, & the sample on examination by public analyst was found to be highly adulterated. THE aforementioned three persons were apparently in conspiracy of profiteering in sale of flour at the expense of the health of the communitcy. Raghunandan Prasad manufactured the flour, Bishwanath Prasad stored the powder, & the mixing was done in the house of Misri Lal. THE grounds of detention of Bishwanath Prasad & Misri Lal state the same facts. In the opinion of the detaining authority, the above mentioned circumstances satisfied the State Govt. that if these persons were allowed to remain at large, they would indulge in activities to the prejudice of the maintenance of supplies & services essential to the community. For prevention of such activities, the State Govt. consd, their detention necessary. THE grounds of detention at the commencement refer to the deficit of food grains in the State of Bihar owing to various causes, such as the failure of the autumn crop caused by drought & excessive rain & floods, subsequent drought in October causing enormous damage to the winter crop. It then refers to the way the price of rice has shot up between the periods 7-5-1980 to 18-10-1950, & that blackmarketing & hoarding by anti-social elements contributed to a great extent in this acute & Sudden rise in the prices of food grains which, if unchecked, might even bring about famine conditions. Taking advantage of the food shortage, unscrupulous dealers have started adulterating food stuffs which would bring them ill-gotten gains at the risk of even causing epidemic among the consumers. Unwholesome food "thrown into the rationing system is likely to cause serious difficulties in the distribution of food stuff," is also stated at the commencement of the grounds of detention. Although the paper book placed before us does not disclose specifically this passage in the grounds of detention of Bishwanath Prasad & Misri Lal, yet I think we may keep in mind that has been stated in the grounds of detention of Raghunandan Prasad when considering the case of all the three persons, particularly when they are accused of having entered into a conspiracy to profiteer by the sale of flour at the expense of the health of the community.

(3.) I do not think that it is possible to accede to the argument on behalf of Misri Lal that in fact a bag of stone powder was not recovered from his house, for the reference made to us is on the grounds of detention stated by the State Govt. It is not open to this Ct. to question the facts stated in the grounds of detention, or whether those facts were sufficient to satisfy the detaining authority to order the detention of the detenu. We must, therefore, proceed on the facts stated in the grounds of detention against Misri Lal & the other two persons & decide whether on the grounds stated, the detention of these persons was legal under Clause (iii) of Sub-section 1 (a) of Section 3 of the Act.