Case: Satya Deo Prasad Gupta Vs. State of Bihar &amp; Others

from the Court. This only shows how cavalierly and irresponsibly the executive authorities in the present case seem inclined to view questions concerning personal liberty and betrays complete lack of candour and frankness with the Court. No words can be too strong to condemn such irresponsible attitude.7. We have already referred to the original record of the case and that clearly shows that though the representation of the petitioner was received by the State Government on 16th August, 1974 and the Advisory Board, after considering the case of the petitioner and taking into account his representation, give its opinion on 20th August, 1974, the State Government slept over the matter for a period of about three months and considered the representation of the petitioner only on 15th November, 1974 after the hearing of the petition had been adjourned on 11th November, 1974. There was obviously inordinate delay on the part of the State Government in considering the representation of the petitioner. There is no explanation for this inordinate delay offered by the State Government. We asked Mr. U.P. Singh whether he was in a position on behalf of the State Government to offer an explanation for this apparently unreasonable delay, but he confessed his inability to do so. We fail to see why the State Government should not have been able to consider the representation of the petitioner for about three months. This only shows callous disregard of the constitutional provision which requires that the representation of a detenu must be considered without avoidable delay. The constitutional requirement of affording an opportunity to a detenu to make a representation against the order of detention is intended to provide a safeguard against improper or unjustified exercise of the power of detention and it is for this reason that the decisions of this Court have always insisted that the representation of the detenu should be considered promptly and without undue delay, so that if it is found by the detaining authority, on considering the representation, that the grounds on which the order of detention has been made are incorrect or non-existent or irrelevant, the detaining authority itself may cancel the order of detention and the detenu may be freed from unjustified detention at the earliest opportunity. Here there was absolutely no justification - at least none could be pointed out - why the State Government could not consider the representation of the petitioner for about three months. It is now well settled by the decision of a Bench of five Judges of this Court in Jayanarayan Sakul v. State of West Bengal, (1970) 3 SCR 225 = (AIR 1970 SC 675 ) that where there is inordinate delay on the part of the State Government in considering the representation of a detenu and no satisfactory explanation is offered by the State Government for such delay, the constitutional obligation is violated and the detention is rendered invalid. Ray, J., as he then was, speaking on behalf of the Court, pointed out in that case :"In the present case, the State of West Bengal is guilty of infraction of the constitutional provision not only by inordinate delay of the consideration of the representation but also by putting off the consideration till after the receipt of the opinion of the Advisory Board. As we have already observed there is no explanation for this inordinate delay. The Superintendent who made the enquiry did not affirm an affidavit. The State has given no information as to why this long delay occurred. The inescapable conclusion in the present case is that the appropriate authority failed to discharge its constitutional obligation by inactivity and lack of independent judgment."Therefore, on this ground alone, the detention of the petitioner must be held to be invalid.8. There is also another ground which must result in invalidation of the detention of the petitioner. The law is now well settled as a result of a decision of this Court in D. S. Roy v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1972 SC 1924 that on a proper interpretation of Article 22, clause (4) of the Constitution, the confirmation of the detention with a view to continue it beyond a period of three months, on receipt of the opinion of the Advisory Board, must be within three months from the date of detention. The confirmation of the detention must, therefore, follow within three months from the date of detention. Here, in the present case, the petitioner was detained pursuant to the order of detention on 11th July, 1974 and the order confirming the detention should, therefore, have been passed at the latest on 11th October, 1974. But the State Government, though it received the opinion of the Advisory Board as far back as 20th August, 1974, did not bestir itself for well nigh three months and it was only on 15th November, 1974 that it suddenly woke up to make the order of confirmation. The order of confirmation was clearly made beyond three months from the date of detention and there is, therefore, no escape from the conclusion that the order of detention must be held to be invalid.We may point out that the decision of this Court in AIR 1972 SC 1924 was given as far back as 7th December, 1971 and yet the State Government in the present case acted in contravention of the constitutional mandate enunciated and explained in that decision. Taking a charitable view of the matter we may presume that the State Government was not aware of this decision. But that can hardly be an excuse for violation of the law. We think it would be desirable if some machinery is set up by the Government of India or the State Governments by which the decisions of this Court in cases of preventive detention are brought to the notice of the executive authorities so soon as they are handed down so that the executive authorities know what is the law laid down by this Court and they can conform to it.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]7. We have already referred to the original record of the case and that clearly shows that though the representation of the petitioner was received by the State Government on 16th August, 1974 and the Advisory Board, after considering the case of the petitioner and taking into account his representation, give its opinion on 20th August, 1974, the State Government slept over the matter for a period of about three months and considered the representation of the petitioner only on 15th November, 1974 after the hearing of the petition had been adjourned on 11th November, 1974. There was obviously inordinate delay on the part of the State Government in considering the representation of the petitioner. There is no explanation for this inordinate delay offered by the State Government. We asked Mr. U.P. Singh whether he was in a position on behalf of the State Government to offer an explanation for this apparently unreasonable delay, but he confessed his inability to do so. We fail to see why the State Government should not have been able to consider the representation of the petitioner for about three months. This only shows callous disregard of the constitutional provision which requires that the representation of a detenu must be considered without avoidable delay. The constitutional requirement of affording an opportunity to a detenu to make a representation against the order of detention is intended to provide a safeguard against improper or unjustified exercise of the power of detention and it is for this reason that the decisions of this Court have always insisted that the representation of the detenu should be considered promptly and without undue delay, so that if it is found by the detaining authority, on considering the representation, that the grounds on which the order of detention has been made are incorrect or non-existent or irrelevant, the detaining authority itself may cancel the order of detention and the detenu may be freed from unjustified detention at the earliest opportunity. Here there was absolutely no justification - at least none could be pointed out - why the State Government could not consider the representation of the petitioner for about threeon this ground alone, the detention of the petitioner must be held to be invalid.8. There is also another ground which must result in invalidation of the detention of the petitioner. The law is now well settled as a result of a decision of this Court in D. S. Roy v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1972 SC 1924  that on a proper interpretation of Article 22, clause (4) of the Constitution, the confirmation of the detention with a view to continue it beyond a period of three months, on receipt of the opinion of the Advisory Board, must be within three months from the date of detention. The confirmation of the detention must, therefore, follow within three months from the date of detention. Here, in the present case, the petitioner was detained pursuant to the order of detention on 11th July, 1974 and the order confirming the detention should, therefore, have been passed at the latest on 11th October, 1974. But the State Government, though it received the opinion of the Advisory Board as far back as 20th August, 1974, did not bestir itself for well nigh three months and it was only on 15th November, 1974 that it suddenly woke up to make the order of confirmation. The order of confirmation was clearly made beyond three months from the date of detention and there is, therefore, no escape from the conclusion that the order of detention must be held to be invalid.We may point out that the decision of this Court in AIR 1972 SC 1924  was given as far back as 7th December, 1971 and yet the State Government in the present case acted in contravention of the constitutional mandate enunciated and explained in that decision. Taking a charitable view of the matter we may presume that the State Government was not aware of this decision. But that can hardly be an excuse for violation of the law. We think it would be desirable if some machinery is set up by the Government of India or the State Governments by which the decisions of this Court in cases of preventive detention are brought to the notice of the executive authorities so soon as they are handed down so that the executive authorities know what is the law laid down by this Court and they can conform to it.