Case: Mohd. Dhana Ali Khan Vs. State of West Bengal

The petitioner assails the order of detention passed against him on August 23, 1973 by the District Magistrate, 24 Parganas. A report was sent by the District Magistrate to the Government on August 27, 1973 and the detention was approved by the Government on 30th August, 1973. On September 10, 1973 the detenu made a representation to the Government which was rejected on September 12, 1973. Thereafter the matter was referred to the Advisory Board and after obtaining its opinion the order of detention was confirmed by the Government on November 14, 1973. We might also state that a report to the Central Government was also made immediately after the order of detention was passed.

Reasoning: In the counter affidavit, however, the District Magistrate has explained that he had to pass almost eight orders of detention on the 23rd August and all of them had to be typed out and as 26th August which was a Sunday had intervened, it was not possible for him to send the report to the Government earlier. In the circumstances, we are satisfied that the explanation given by the District Magistrate in his affidavit is convincing and satisfactoryThis matter appears to be concluded by a decision of this Court in John Martin v. State of West Bengal (JUDGMENT in W.P. No. 467/74 dt. 21-1-1975) following Hardan Shahs case where a a similar argument put forward by this Court was rejected outright. This contention of the learned counsel does not therefore surviveFrom a perusal of this we are unable to accept the contention of the petitioner that this ground has no nexus with the disturbance of public order. It is true that the ground contains a single incident of theft of valuable property from some passengers traveling in a running train and may amount to robbery. But that does not by itself take the case out of the purview of the provisions of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. There are two pertinent facts which emerge from the grounds which must be noted. In the first place the allegation is that the petitioner had snatched away a wrist watch and a gold chain after putting the passengers of the compartment to fear of jeath. Secondly, the theft had taken place at night in a running train in a third class compartment and the effect of it would be to deter peaceful citizens from traveling in trains at night and this would undoubtedly disturb the even tempo of the life of the community. For these reasons we are satisfied that the ground mentioned in the order did have a nexus with the disturbance of public orderThis argument however is not tenable because it is not supported by a perusal of the Affidavit filed by the District Magistrate as a whole. We are therefore of the opinion that the order of detention must be set aside and the petitioner be set at liberty forthwithIn the first place s.14 merely confers a discretion on the Central Government to revoke or modify an order of detention made by the State Government . It does not confer any right or privilege on the detenu. It is for the Central Government to revoke or modify after the report is submitted to it. The mere fact that the Central Government does not choose to revoke or modify the order of detention without anything more cannot necessarily lead to the irresistible inference that the Central Government failed to, apply its mind. So far as the State Government is concerned, its duty comes to an end after it has sent a report regard ing the detention order to the Central Government. In these circumstance it cannot be said by any stretch of imagination that as Central Government did not apply its mind under section 14 of the Act, this would invalidate the order of detention. There is no material before us to show that the Central Government did not apply its mind at all under section 14 of the Act. The argument on this score is, therefore, rejected.