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2017 (4) TMI 1076 - HC - CustomsDetention of certain persons - There is improper communication of the order of detention and this has vitiated the second facet of Article 22(5) of the Constitution as well - non-furnishing of relied upon documents - non-application of mind - applicability of doctrine of severability - COFEPOSA Act - Held that: - The protection under Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India read with Section 3(3) of the COFEPOSA Act requires that the person against whom an order for preventive detention has been passed shall be given the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order of detention by communicating to him the grounds of detention, thus enabling him to effectively utilise such opportunity. Liberty of individual in terms of the Constitution is not merely a technical matter but a sacrosanct one. The materials disclosed that the detention order and the grounds of detention were served on the respective detenus under due acknowledgment. The list of Relied Upon Documents and copies of the Relied Upon Documents were also served on each detenu. The video footages were also shown to them, as can be seen from the acknowledgments made in writing by each of the detenus in the presence of Jail authorities. The acknowledgment of receipt of the detention order, the grounds of detention, the list of the Relied Upon Documents and the copies of the Relied Upon Documents are signed by each of the detenus and those acknowledgments are counter signed by the Jail authority who was present while those materials were served. If the formalities prescribed by the Constitution and the COFEPOSA Act have been complied with, there would be no further examination by the Court, on an application seeking interference with preventive detention - the orders of detention have been issued on the basis of materials which are not extraneous to the purpose of statutory provisions which have been invoked by the detaining authority and the sponsoring authority. No plea of absence of due application of mind is available on the materials in the cases in hand. No ground exists to interfere with the impugned orders of detention and grant the reliefs as sought for in the writ petitions - petition dismissed - decided against petitioner.
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