MANGALBHAI MOTIRAM PATEL versus STATE OF MAHARASHTRA & ORS.

Citation: [1981] 1 S.C.R. 852 · Decided: 26-09-1980 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: P.N. BHAGWATI · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 3 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

852 
A 
B 
D 
F 
G 
H 
MANGALBHAI MOTIRAM PATEL 
v. 
STArE OF MAHARASHTRA & ORS. 
September 26, 1980 
[P. N. BHAGWATI, A. P. SEN AND E. S. VENKATARAMIAH, JJ.] 
Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities 
Act 1974-Section 3--Constitutional imperatives in cases of detention-Delay in 
supplying copies of docummts, if vitiates the order of de!tention. 
!. The constitutional imperatives indicated in Art. 22(5) are: firstly, the 
detaining authority must, as soon as practicable, after the detention, commu-
nicate to the detenu the grounds on which the order of detention has been 
made and secondly, the detaining authority must afford the detenu the earliest 
opportunity of making a representation against the order of detention. [855D] 
2. The right to make a representation implies what it means 'the right 
of making an effective representation'. 
Where certain documents are relied 
upon in the grounds of d1~tention the grounds would be incomplete without 
such documents. 
The detenu has the right to, be furnished with the grounds 
of detention alongwith the documents relied upon. [855EJ 
3. By a long line of decisions, this Court has on a construction of Art. 
22(5) of the Constitution read with section 3(3) of the Conservation of Foreign 
Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, I 974 held that the right 
of making an effective representation carries with it the right to have the docu-
ments relied upon in the grounds of detention furnished without unreasonable 
delay. Failure to supply the documents within ,a reasonable time is tantamount 
to denial of the right of making 
representation 
and renders the continued 
detention invalid. [855H] 
Ramchandra A. Kamat v. Union of India [1980] 2 SCR 1072, Frances Co-
ralie Mullin v. W. C. Khambra [1980] 2 SCR 1095, Smt. Jcchu Devi Choraria v. 
Union of India, [1981] I S, C. R. 642 Pritam Nath Hoon v. Union oif India 
W.P. [1981] 1 S. C.R. 684 referred to. 
4. The detaining authority must keep ready all the documents relevant 
to the grounds of detention and expeditiously furnish copies thereof to the 
detenu on demand for making a representation. In the instant case, the State 
Government acted in a cavalier fashion in dealing with the detenu's applica-
tion for copies of all the relevant documents. The detaining authority failed 
to apply his mind and abdicated his functions of supplying the copies of docu-
ments on which the order of detention was based. 
He passed on the papers 
to the Collector of Customs,. who in his turn ,referred the matter to the Direc-
torate of Revenue Intelligence. Even after the replies were received the docu-
ments were lying in the Maritralaya for 9 days without being placed before 
J
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MANGALBHAI v. MAHARASHTRA (Sen,!.) 
853 
the detaining authority. No reasonable explanation is furnished for this delay. 
A. 
There was unexplained delay o( 4,3 days in supplying copies of such documents. 
The continued detention was thus bad. [858H-859F] 
5. When the liberty of the subject is involved whether under the Preven-
tive Detention Act or the Maintenance of Internal Security Act or the Conser-
vation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act or any 
other law providing for preventive detention, it is the bounden duty of the 
Court to satisfy itself that all the safeguards provided by the law have been 
scrupulously observed and. that the 
subject is 
not deprived of his personal 
JibeJ1ly otherwise than in accordance ~ith law. [861H] 
Narendra Purshotam Umrao v. B. B. Gujral & O:rs. (1979] 2 SCR 315 
referred to. 
. 
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 724 of 1980. 
Under Article 32 of the Constitution 
Ram Jethmalani and Miss Rani Jethmalani for the petitioner. 
M. N. Phadke and M. N. Shroff for the Respondent. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
SEN J.-This petition for the granu of writ of Habeas Corpus 
is for the release of one Bhalabhai Motiram Patel, who has been de-
tained by an order of the State Government of Maharashtra dated 
February 12, 1980 under sub-s. (1) of s. 3 of the Conservation of 
Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 
(hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') on being satisfied that it was neces-
sary to detain him 'with a view to preventing him from abetting the 
smuggling of goods and engaging in transport of smuggled goods'. 
At the conclusion of the hearing on July 30, 1980 we made an order 
for the release of the de

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