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2018 (7) TMI 456 - HC - CustomsPrinciples of Natural Justice - Detention of Mushtaq Abubakar Sayed - Smuggling - Gold - Section 3(1) of the COFEPOSA Act - non-application of mind - it is the case of petitioner that the detaining authority has not considered the documents in piecemeal and has issued the order of detention on the basis of the material on record and on the basis of the documents placed before him which were relied upon for issuing the order of detention. Held that:- It was expected from the detaining authority to come out with the clear explanation and details as to which documents were forwarded and in what number to the detaining authority from time to time. It is pertinent to note that the affidavit is silent in that regard. The entire approach of the detaining authority shows total non-application of mind and it is apparent that the orders of detention were issued against 4 detenus in most casual and cavalier manner. The exercise of powers under the law of preventive detention cannot be exercised in such manner. The Petitioners had submitted that the detaining authority could not have applied its mind to the documents due to paucity of time as the volume of material was sent from time to time by the sponsoring authority in Mumbai to its head office in Delhi from where it was forwarded to the detaining authority. It was observed that the movement of documents from one office to another and to the detaining authority would clearly show that the authority had ample time to apply its mind to the question of expediency of making an order of detention. It's a settled law that liberty of citizen cannot be dealt with casually by clamping order of detention and the powers of preventive detention are to be exercised cautiously and without violating the freedom of the citizen and personal liberty guaranteed under the constitution - the issuance of the order of detention against the detenu suffers from nonapplication of mind, which is required to be set aside. Petition allowed.
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