Judgment Case ID: 448

Judgment:
172 of 1956. Under Article 32 of the Constitution for a writ in the nature of Habeas Corpus. section N. Andely	 amicus curiae	 for the petitioner. Porus A. Mehta	 T. M. Sen and R. H. Dhebar	 for the respondent. November 1. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by JAGANNADHADAS J. This is an application under article 32 of the Constitution for the issue of a writ in the nature of habeas corpus against the State of	 Jammu and Kashmir by the petitioner who was under detention by virtue of an order dated the 5th September	 1956	 issued by the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under sub section (2) of sec tion 3 taken with sub section (1) of section 12 of Jammu and Kashmir Preventive Detention Act	 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The petitioner was first placed under detention by virtue of an order passed by the District Magistrate	 Jammu	 under subsection (2) of section 3 of the Act on the 1st May	 1956	 and that order was confirmed and continued on the 5th September	 1956	 under sub section (1) of section 12 of the Act by the Government after taking the opinion of the Advisory Board. The two orders of detention	 one of the District Magistrate dated the 1st May	 1956	 and the other of the Government dated the 5th September	 1956	 recited that the petitioner is directed to be detained because it was	 necessary to make such an order "with a view to preventing him 950 from acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community". The grounds of detention as communicated to the petitioner on the 31st May	 1956	 by the District Magistrate	 Jammu	 are as follows: "1. That you carried on smuggling of essential goods to Pakistan through the Ferozpur and Amritsar border	 but since the tightening of said borders you have recently shifted your smuggling activities to Ranbirsinghpura Pakistan borders in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and are carrying on illicit smuggling of essential goods such as cloth	 zari and mercury to Pakistan through this border (thus affecting the economic condition of the public in Kashmir State adversely). That for the said purpose of smuggling of goods to Pakistan you went to village Darsoopura on 7th April	 1956	 and contacted Ghulam Ahmed son of Suraj bin resident of Darsoopura Tehsil Ranbirsinghpura and one Ram Lal son of Frangi resident of Miran Sahib Tehsil Ranbirsinghpura and others who I similarly are addicted to carrying on such a smuggling business and with their aid made arrangements for export of Shaffon cloth worth Rs. 2	500 to Pakistan through Ranbirsinghpura Pakistan border. That on 11 4 1956	 you booked 3 bales of silk cloth through Messrs Jaigopal Rajkumar Shegal of Amritsar to Jammu Tawi and got these bales on address of yourself	 and on the same day you got one package of Tila booked through section Kanti Lal Zarianwalla of Amritsar and got this package also addressed "To self" for Jammu Tawi. That after booking these packages as aforesaid you came over to Jammu and waited for their arrival and contacted Ghulam Ahmed and Ram Lal the above mentioned persons. That on the 15th April	 1956	 you tried to get the transport receipt from the Punjab National. Bank but did not succeed in doing so as it was a public holiday. Meanwhile your activities leaked out and the goods 951 were seized by the Central Customs and Excise Department of India. 2.There are other facts also but those cannot be given as I consider their disclosure would be against the public interest. That by resorting to the above activities you have been and are acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of the supplies and services essential to the community". It will be seen from the above grounds that the reason for the detention is the alleged "illicit smuggling of essential goods such as cloth	 zari and mercury to Pakistan through the border	 thereby affecting the economic condition of the public	 in Kashmir State adversely". From the particulars set out in paragraph 2 of the grounds	 it appears that the cloth referred to in paragraph I is Shaffon cloth. The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir	 to whom a similar application was filed by this petitioner along with a number of others similarly detained for illicit smuggling of goods	 has in its judgment dated the 21st June	 1956" held that Shaffon cloth is not within the category of an essential commodity as defined in the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Ordinance of Jammu and Kashmir. There is no indication in the High Court judgment whether zari is or is not an essential commodity in the same sense. But in answer to a query from this Court	 Shri Porus Mehta who appeared before us on behalf of the State of Jammu and Kashmir has stated	 on instructions	 that zari which is obviously a luxury article is not one of the commodities declared essential under the above Ordinance. The High Court	 when it dealt with the batch of applications	 of which the application of the petitioner before us was one	 set aside the detention of number of others on the ground that the smuggling attributed to the individuals concerned in those cases was not of essential goods. So far as this petitioner is concerned the High Court held as follows: "The case of Dwarika Das Bhatia stands on s 952 different footing altogether. The allegation against him is that he smuggled into Pakistan some goods such as cloth and zari along with a certain quantity of mercury. Mercury is a non ferrous metal and according to the definition of an essential commodity given in the Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Ordinance	 mercury is an essential commodity. This being so	 Dwarika Das Bhatia 's detention cannot be challenged". The point raised before us is that since the detention is based on the assumption that Shaffon cloth and zari as well as mercury are all essential goods and since two out of the three categories of the goods with reference to the smuggling of which the detention has been directed	 are found not to be essential goods	 the entire order is illegal	 although one of the items	 viz.	 mercury is an essential commodity. In support of this contention	 the cases of this Court in Dr. Ram Krishan Bhardwaj vs The		 State of Delhi(1)	 and Shibban Lal Saksena vs The State of U. P. (2) are relied upon. Learned counsel for the State of Jammu and Kashmir contends that the principle of these decisions has no application to the present case	 and attempts to distinguish the same. In order to understand the principle underlying these two cases	 it is necessary to examine them in some detail. In Dr. Ram Krishan Bhardwaj 's case (supra) the two points that were raised were (1) whether an order of detention is invalid if the grounds supplied in support thereof are vague	 and (2) whether the vagueness of one or some of the various grounds vitiates the entire order. The argument advanced in that case was based on the view adopted by this Court in the decision in Atma Ram Sridhar Vaidya 's case(3)	 viz.	 that the obligation cast on the detaining authority to supply grounds is for the purpose of enabling a detenue to make a fair representation to the authority concerned and to the Advisory Board	 against the order of detention. The argument was that in a (1) ; (2) ; (3)[1951] S C.R. 167. 953 case where one or more of the grounds are vague	 the petitioner is handicapped in making an adequate representation as regards that ground and his representation even if effective in respect of the other grounds	 may fail to carry conviction as regards the ground which is vague and that this might result in the detention being confirmed. The Court stated that that argument was not without force and held as follows: "The question however is not whether the petitioner will in fact be prejudicially affected in the matter of securing his release by his representation	 but whether his constitutional safeguard has been infringed. Preventive detention is a serious invasion of personal liberty and such meager safeguards as the Constitution has provided against the improper exercise of the power must be jealously watched and enforced by the Court. . We are Of opinion that this constitutional requirement must be satisfied with respect to each of the grounds communicated to the person detained	 subject of course to a claim of the privilege under clause (6) of article 22. That not having been done in regard to the ground mentioned. . the petitioner 's detention cannot be held to be in accordance with the procedure established by law within the meaning of article 21". Shibban Lal Saksena vs The State of U. P. (supra) is a case where the question arose in a different form. The grounds of detention communicated to the detenue were of two fold character	 i.e.	 fell under two different categories	 viz.	 (1) prejudicial to maintenance of supplies essential to community	 and (2) injurious to maintenance of public order. When the matter was referred to the Advisory Board	 it held that the first of the above grounds was not made out as a fact but upheld the order on the second ground. The question before the court was whether this confirmation of the original order of detention	 when one of the two grounds was found to be non existent by the Advisory Board	 could be maintained. Their Lordships dealt with the matter as follows: 124 954 "It has been repeatedly held by this court that the power to issue a detention order under section 3 of the Preventive Detention Act depends entirely upon the satisfaction of the appropriate authority specified in that section. The sufficiency Of the grounds upon which such satisfaction purports to be based	 provided they have a rational probative value and are not extraneous to the scope or purpose of the legislative provision cannot be challenged in a court of law	 except on the ground of mala fides. A Court of law is not even competent to enquire into the truth or otherwise of the facts which are mentioned as grounds of detention in the communication to the detenue under section 7 of the Act." Posing the situation which arises in such cases where one of the grounds is found to be irrelevant or un.substantiated	 the Court stated as follows: "The question is	 whether in such circumstances the original order made under section 3(1) (a) of the Act can be allowed to stand. The answer	 in our opinion	 can only be in the negative. The detaining authority gave here two grounds for detaining the petitioner. We can neither decide whether these grounds are good or bad nor can we attempt to assess in what manner and to what extent each of these grounds operated on the mind of the appropriate authority and contributed to the creation of the satisfaction on the basis of which the detention order was made. To say that the other ground	 which still remains	 is quite sufficient to sustain the order	 would be to substitute an objective judicial test for the subjective decision of the executive authority which is against the legislative policy underlying the statute. In such cases	 we think	 the position would be the same as if one of these two grounds was irrelevant for the purpose of the Act or was wholly illusory and this would vitiate the detention order as a whole. This principle	 which was recognised by the Federal Court in the case of Keshav Talpade vs The King Emperor(1)	 seems to us to be quite sound and applicable to the facts of this case". (1) 955 In Keshav Talpade 's case(1) the learned Judges stated as follows: "If a detaining authority gives four reasons for detaining a man	 without distinguishing between them	 and any two or three of the reasons are held to be bad	 it can never be certain to what extent the bad reasons operated on the mind of the authority or whether the detention order would have been made at all if only one or two good reasons bad been before them". The principle underlying all these decisions is this power is vested in a statutory authority to deprive the liberty of a subject on its subjective satisfaction with reference to specified matters	 if that satisfaction is stated to be based on a Dumber of grounds or for a variety of reasons all taken together	 and if some out of them are found to be non existent or irrelevant	 the very exercise of that power is bad. That is so	 because the matter being one for subjec tive satisfaction	 it must be properly based. on all the reasons on which it purports to be based. If some 	out of them are found to be non existent or irrelevant	 the Court cannot predicate what the subjective satisfaction of the said authority would have been on the exclusion of those grounds or reasons. To uphold the validity of such an order in spite of the invalidity of some of the reasons or grounds would be to substitute the objective standards of the Court for the subjective satisfaction of the statutory authority. In applying these principles	 however	 the Court must be satisfied that the vague or irrelevant grounds are such as 	 if excluded	 might reasonably have affected the subjective satisfaction of the appropriate authority. It is not merely because some ground or reason of a comparatively unessential nature is defective that such an order based on subjective satisfaction can be held to be invalid. The Court while anxious to safeguard the personal liberty of the individual will not lightly interfere with such orders. It is in the light of these principles that the validity of the impugned order has to be judged. (1) 956 In this case	 the order of detention is based on the ground that the petitioner was engaged in unlawful smuggling activities relating to three commodities	 cloth	 zari and mercury of which two are found not to be essential articles. No material is placed before us enabling us to say that the smuggling attributed to the petitioner was substantially only of mercury and that the smuggling as regards the other two commodities was of an inconsequential nature. On the other hand the fact that the particulars furnished to the detenue on the 31st May	 1956	 relate only to cloth and zari (we understand that tila referred to in paragraph 3 is zari) indicates that probably the smuggling of these two items was not of an inconsequential nature. We are	 therefore	 clearly of the opinion that the order of detention in this case is bad and must be quashed. We have accordingly quashed the order and directed the release forthwith of the detenue on the conclusion of the hearing on the 29th October	 1956. Petition allowed.

Summary:
The petitioner was detained by virtue of an order of detention passed by the District Magistrate	 Jammu	 under section 3(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Preventive Detention Act	 2011 and that order was confirmed and continued by an order passed by the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under section 12(1) of the Act after taking the opinion of the Advisory Board. The order recited that it was necessary to detain the petitioner with a view to preventing him from acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community and was based on the ground of alleged illicit smuggling by the petitioner of essential goods such as shaff on cloth	 zari and mercury to Pakistan. It was found that shaffon cloth and zari were not essential goods. It was not established that the smuggling attributed to the petitioner was substantially only of. mercury or that the smuggling as regards shaffon cloth and zari was of an inconsequential nature. Held	 that the order was bad and must be quashed. The sub jective satisfaction of the detaining authority must be properly based on all the reasons on which it purports to be based. If some out of those reasons are found to be non existent or irrelevant	 the Court cannot predicate what the subjective satisfaction of the authority would have been on the exclusion of those reasons. To 949 uphold the order on the remaining reasons would be to substitute the objective standards of the Court for the subjective satisfaction of the authority. The Court must	 however	 be satisfied that the vague or irrelevant grounds are such as	 if excluded	 might reasonably have affected the subjective satisfaction of the authority. Keshav Talpade vs The King Emperor ([1943] F.C.R. 88)	 Atma Ram Sridhar Vaidya 's case ([1951] S.C.R. 167)	 Dr. Ram Krishan Bhardwaj vs The State of Delhi ([1953] S.C.R. 708) and Shibban Lal Saksena vs The State of U.P. ([1954] S.C.R. 418)	 relied on.