Case: Chotka Hembram Vs. State Of West Bengal And Ors

2. An order for the detention of the petitioner was made under sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 (Act 26 of 1971) (hereinafter referred to as the Act), by the District Magistrate of Burdwan on July 3, 1972. The petitioner by means of this petition challenged the validity of the aforesaid order for his detention. From the reply filed on behalf of the State of West Bengal it would appear that the petitioner was released on April 28, 1973 and a fresh order for the detention of the petitioner was made on April 26, 1973 by the District Magistrate of Burdwan during the pendency of the present petition.    3. The present petition, it may be mentioned, was sent from jail by the petitioner on February 22, 1973. The petitioner is now being detained in pursuance of the fresh order of detention dated April 26, 1973. It is the validity of this later order of detention which is now being assailed before us on behalf of the petitioner.

Reasoning: 6. According to sub-sec. (2) of Section 14 of the Act "the revocation or expiry of a detention order shall not bar the making of a fresh detention order under Section 3 against the same person in any case where fresh facts have arisen after the date of revocation or expiry on which the Central Government or a State Government or an officer, as the case may be is satisfied that such an order should be made". It would, therefore, follow that if an order for the detention of a person had been made under the Act and that order was either subsequently revoked or the period for which the detention order was made has expired, the said order would not stand in the way of the making of a fresh order of detention under Section 3 of the Act against the same person provided fresh facts arise after the date of the said revocation or expiry. If no fresh facts come into being after the date of revocation or expiry as may warrant the making of an order of detention, the requisite condition precedent to the making of the subsequent order would be non-existent an it would not be permissible to make a subsequent order of detention under Section 3 of the Act8. The matter can also be looked at from another angle. Section 13 of the Act provides that the maximum period for which any person may be detained in pursuance of any detention order, which has been confirmed under Section 12, shall be 12 months from the date of detention. It is, therefore, plain that the maximum period for which a person can be detained on account of specified acts should not exceed 12 months. If for the same acts repeated orders of detention can be made the effect would be that for the same acts a detenu would be liable to be detained for a period of more than 12 months. The making of a subsequent order of detention in respect of the same acts, for which an earlier order of detention was made, would run counter to the entire scheme of the Act. It would also set at naught the restriction which is imposed by Section 13 of the Act relating to the maximum period for which a person can be detained in pursuance of a detention order