No 37 of 1972
Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for a writ in the nature of habeas corpus
T section Arora for the petitioner
section C Majumdar and G section Chatterjee for the respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Khanna J
This is a petition through jail under article 32 of the Constitution for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus by Sasti alias Satish Chowdhary who has been ordered by the District Magistrate Howrah to be detained under section 3 of the hereinafter referred to as the Act
The order recited that it was made with a view to preventing the petitioner from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community
The order of detention was passed by the District Magistrate on September 8 1971
The petitioner it is stated was found to be absconding soon after the passing of the order
He was arrested on November 23 1971 and was served with the order of detention and the grounds of detention together with vernacular translation thereof on the same day
in the meanwhile on September 8 1971 the District Magistrate sent report to the State Government about his having made the order of detention along with the grounds of detention and other necessary particulars
The matter was then considered by the State Government
It approved the detention order on September 10 1971
The same day the State Government sent report to the Central Government along with necessary particulars regarding the necessity a the order
On December 10 1971 the State Government received a representation of the petitioner
The said representation after being considered was rejected by the State Government on December 21 1971
On December 22 1971 the
State Government placed the case of the petitioner before the Advisory Board
The representation of the petitioner was also sent to the Advisory Board
The said Board after considering the material placed before it including the representation of the petitioner and after hearing him in person sent its report to the state on January 28 1972
Opinion was expressed by the Advisory Board that there was sufficient cause for the petitioner s detention
On February 11 1972 the State Government confirmed the order of detention of the petitioner
Communication of the said confirmation was thereafter sent to the petitioner
469 In opposition to the petition Shri Dipak Kumar Rudra Dist 
rict Magistrate who made the impugned order has filed his affidavit
Mr Arora has argued the case amicus curiae on behalf of  the petitioner while the State has been reprensented by Mr
Majumdar Before dealing with the contention advanced by Mr Arora it would be pertinent to reproduce the portion of the grounds of  detention which contains the necessary particulars  You are being detained in pursuance of detention order made in exercise of the powers conferred by subsection 1 read with sub section 2 of section 3 of the Act No 26 of 1971 on the grounds that you have beer acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community as evi denced by the particulars given below  1 On 9771 at about 2330 hrs
you and your associates Sk
Nazam Kesta Adhikary Bablu Das Kachi Chakravarty and 34 others were found to committee in respect of overhead electric wires between two posts near Zanana Latrine of Lawrence  Co at Chakkashi by the darwans on duty
You and your associate Sk
Nazam were seen on the top of the post cutting one end of the electric wire while your associates were rolling the cut end of the wire from other post
The darwans raised alarm and surrounded you with the help of local people
Your associate Sk
Nazam with other escaped and you and two other of your associates could be arrested at the spot with stolen copper wire
This created complete dislocation of electric supplies of the area
 It is argued by Mr Arora that as the act attributed to the petitioner in the grounds of detention constituted an offence under the Indian Penal Code the petitioner could only be tried in a court of law for the offence and no order for his detention On that score could be made
This contention in our opinion is devoid of force
It is always open to the detaining authority to pass an order for the detention of a person if the grounds of detention are germane to the object for which a detention order can legally be made
The fact that the particular act of the detenu which provides the reason for the making of the detention order constitutes an offence under the Indian Penal Code would not prevent the detaining authority from passing the order for detention instead of proceeding against him in a court of law
The detaining authority might well feel that though there was 470 not sufficient evidence admissible under the Indian Evidenre Act for securing a conviction the activities of the person ordered to be detained were of such a nature as to justify the order of detention
There would
be no legal bar to the making of detention order in such a case
It would however be imperative that the incident which gives rise to the apprehension in the mind of the detaining authority and induces that authority to pass the order for detention should be relevant and germane to the object for which a detention order can be made under the Act
Even in cases where a person has been actually prosecuted in a court of law in respect of an incident and has been discharged by the trying magistrate a valid order of his detention can be passed against him in connection with that very incident
It was recently observed by this Court in the case of Mohd Salim Khan vs Shri C C Bose  Anr
Writ petition No 435 of 1971 decided on April 25 1972 that from the mere fact that a detenu was discharged in a criminal case relating to an incident by A magistrate it could not be said that the detention order on the basis of that incident was incompetent nor could it be inferred that it was without basis or mala fide
Reliance in this connection was placed upon the case of Sahib Singh Duggal vs Union India1
The particulars of the incident in the grounds of detention show that the petitioner and his associates committed theft in respect of overhead electric wires between two posts near Zanana Latrine of Lawrence  Co at Chakkashi
the above act of the petitioner and his associates created complete dislocation of electric supplies of the area
The above ground of detention in our opinion was germane to the object for which a detention order can be made under section 31a iii of the Act
According to that provision the detaining authority may if satisfied with respect to any person that with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community it is necessary so to do make an order directing that such person be detained
Mr Arora has referred to the case of Pushkar Mukherjee  Ors
vs The State of West Bengal2 wherein this Court dealt with the difference between the concept of public order and law and order and observed that the said difference was similar to the distinction between public and private crimes in the realm of jurisprudence
It was observed that a line of demarcation must be drawn between serious and aggravated forms of disorder which directly affect the community any injure the public interest and the relatively minor breaches of peace of a purely local significance which primarily injure specific individuals and only in a secondary sense public interest
1 1966 1 SCR 313
2  471 Pushkar Mukherjee s case1 was referred to in a later deci sion of this Court in the case of Arjun Ghosh vs State of West Bengal2 and it was pointed out that the true distinction between the areas of law and order and public order was one of degree and extent of the reach of the act in question upon society
Acts similar in nature but committed in different contexts and cir cumstances might cause different reactions in one case it might affect the problem of the breach of law and order and in another the breach of public order
It was observed that the analogy resorted to in the Pushkar Mukherjee s case supra of crimes against individuals and crimes against the public though useful to a limited extent would not always be apt
An assault by one individual upon another would affect law and order only and cause its breach
A similar assault by a member of one community upon a leading individual of another community though similar in quality would differ in potentiality in the sense that it might cause reverberations which might affect the even tempo of the life of the community
The Court pointed out that the act by itself is not determinant of its own gravity  In its quality it may not differ but in its potentiality it may be very different see also Nagendra Nath Mondal vs State of West Bengal 3
The distinction between public order and the maintenance of law and order has however not much material bearing on the present case because as stated above the petitioner has been detained not with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order but with a view to preventing him from acting in any maner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community
No other infirmity in the detention order and the consequent detention of the petitioner has been brought to our notice
The petition consequently fails and is dismissed
GC Petition dismissed


Summary:
The petitioner was detained by an order under section 3 of the 
In a petition under article 32 of the Constitution it was urged on behalf of the petitioner that a prosecution for theft under the Indian Penal Code could have been launched on the facts alleged against him in the grounds of detention and therefore his detention was illegate
Rejecting the plea HELD  It is always open to the detaining authority to pass an order for the detention of a person if the grounds of detention are germane to the object for which a detention order can legally be made
The fact that the particular act of the detenue which provides the reason for the making of the detention order constitutes in offence under the Indian Penal Code would not prevent the detaining authority from passing the order for detention instead of proceeding against him in a court of law
The detaining authority might well feel that though there was not sufficient evidence admissible under the Indian Evidence Act for securing a conviction the activities of the person ordered to be detained were of such a nature as to justify the order of detention
Even in cases where a person has been actually prosecuted in a court of law in respect of an incident and has been discharged by the trying magistrate a valid order of his detention can be passed against him in connection with that very incident
46 H 470 C Mohd Salim Khan v Shri C C Bose  Anr
Writ petition No 435 of 1971 decided on April 25 1972 relied on
Sahib Singh Duggal vs Union of India referred to
The particulars of the incident in the grounds of detention in the present case showed that the petitioner and his associates committed theft in respect of overhead electric wires
The above act of the petitioner and his associate created complete dislocation of electric supplies of the area
The above ground of detention was germane to the object for which a detention order can be made under section 31aiii of the Act
According to that provision the detaining authority may if satisfied with respect to any person that with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community it is
necessary so to do make an order directing that such person be detained
470 E F Pushkar Mukherjee  Ors vs The State of West Bengal   Arun Ghosh vs State of West Bengal and Nagendra Nath Mondal vs State of West Bengal  referred to 468