FAQIR SINGH Vs. DIST MAGISTRATE JAMMU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Faqir Singh petitioner has been detained for a period of 24 months under Sec. 8 of Public Safety Act, (for short Act hereinafter), vide order No. 54/88 dated November 22, 1988, passed by the District Magistrate, Jammu. The grounds on which such detention has been ordered are given in the grounds of detention as under :-

(2.) Petitioner has challenged the order of his detention on various grounds. His plea is that he is running a small scale unit at Kathua for manufacture of fertilizer and in connection with that business he comes to R.S. Pura for collection of raw-material for his factory. He was arrested on 1-10-1988 near Miran Sahib when he was coming on his car along with his driver Darshan Singh and was taken to police station R.S. Pura where he was detained for more than one month. With great difficulty he contacted his relatives who came and approached special Judge under Enemy Agents Ordinance for shifting him to Central Jail Jammu from R.S. Pura and the Judge allowed his that application. Afterwards bail application was also moved before that Court and he was ordered to be released on bail on Nov. 24, 1988. When he was still in detention impugned order was passed.

(3.) Petitioner's further case is that his order of detention is bad in law and illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary, passed without application of mind. He belongs to village Jamalpur Tehsil Pathankot and has never been involved in any case, even of petty nature in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The allegations levelled against him regarding collection of American dollors for buying gold are absolutely absurd, baseless, vague and appears to have been levelled without application of mind. The allegations have also been levelled against him merely on presumptions and assumptions. The detention order was passed while he was in lock up and there was no evidence on his involvement in any activity.