Preventive detention law: Follow procedures, says SC

New Delhi: Laws on preventive detention are necessarily harsh, curtail the personal liberty of an individual who is kept behind bars without trial and so the procedure prescribed should be strictly adhered to, the Supreme Court has said while ordering the release of a man whose detention was extended twice without the authorities considering his representation.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia set aside an order of the Jharkhand High Court upholding the detention of Prakash Chandra Yadav alias Mungeri Yadav, who was declared an 'anti-social element' under the Jharkhand Control of Crimes Act, 2002.

The bench, in its order dated July 10, held the procedure of law was not followed, and ordered Yadav's release from Rajmahal prison in Jharkhand's Sahibganj district. "All laws on preventive detention are necessarily harsh.

They curtail personal liberty of an individual, who is kept behind bars without any trial. In such cases, procedure is all a detenue has. Laws of preventive detention must therefore be strictly applied," the bench said.

The Jharkhand Control of Crimes Act, 2002 deals with externment and detention of anti-social elements, subject to the procedure given in the Act.

Under the provisions of the Act, the state government can detain an anti-social element in order to prevent him from indulging in undesirable activities. The bench said the extended period of detention of the appellant beyond the period of three months was unauthorised and illegal.

"The orders dated November 7, 2022 and February 7, 2023 which extended the detention period are hereby quashed. The orders of the Division Bench of Jharkhand High Court dated March 2, 2023 and November 2, 2022 of the Single Judge… are also set aside," it said.

The top court agreed with the submission of Jharkhand's Additional Advocate General Arunabh Chowdhury that there were no grounds for challenging the initial detention order dated August 8, 2022 and said Yadav has only challenged the subsequent orders which extended the period of detention.

These orders were dated November 7, 2022 and February 7, 2023 which extended Yadav's detention by three and six months respectively. Yadav was served with a copy of the initial detention order dated August 8, 2022 passed by the district magistrate of Sahebganj when he was in judicial custody in Rajmahal prison.

The order mentioned the grounds for detaining Yadav and gave the details of 18 pending cases against him which ranged from causing simple hurt to extortion and murder. The top court noted that there was a representation placed before the authorities on August 18, 2022," (PTI)