- (1.) VISHNU Sahai, J. Through this writ petition preferred under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner detenu Jai Singh Yadav has impugned the order dated 10-1-2002 passed by the third Respondent Mr. Jeevesh Nandan District Magistrate, Lucknow, whereby he has been detained under Section 3 (2) of the National Security Act, 1980. The detention order alongwith the grounds of detention, which are also dated 10-1-2002, was served on the petitioner-detenu on 10- 1-2002 itself and their true copies have been annexed as Annexures No. 1 and 3 respectively to this writ petition.
(2.) THE prejudicial activities of the petitioner-detenu impelling the third respondent to issue the impugned detention order against the petitioner-detenu are contained in the grounds of detention (Annexure No. 3 ). A perusal of the grounds of detention would show that the impugned order is founded on a solitary C. R. namely C. R. No. 183/2001 under Sections 307, 504, 506 IPC (subsequently converted to Section 302, 307, 504, 506 IPC) of police station Cantt. District Lucknow, registered on the basis of a complaint dated 17-7-2001 lodged at the said police station by Ratan Lal Khandelwal. THE details pertaining to the said C. R. as contained in the grounds of detention in short read thus: On 17-7-2001 at 9. 30 p. m. the petitioner-detenu alongwith his associates Singar Yadav and Anil Singh went to the PCO cum- General Provision Store of Jagdish Prasad Khandelwal situated in Arjunganj Bazar and threatened to kill Jagdish Prasad Khandelwal because he resisted the illegal extortion of money from them. Singar Yadav instigated that Jagdish Prasad Khandelwal be killed. THEreupon the petitioner- detenu and his associates fired on him, resulting in his sustaining gun shot injuries. On the arrival of Ratan Lal and Sarvesh Singh, the petitioner-detenu and his associates in order to thwart the bid of the shop keepers from arresting them, fired towards them and told them that if they came near, they would be killed. On account of the said firing by the petitioner-detenu and his associates a fear psychosis was created in the market; shop keepers started running helter skelter and started closing their shops. After committing the said acts the detenu and his associates ran away. We have heard the learned Counsel for the parties. Although Shri M. P. Yadav, learned Counsel for the petitioner- detenu has pleaded a large number of grounds in this writ petition but he has only canvassed before us a solitary ground namely that pleaded in the supplementary affidavit filed by Smt. Ram Dulari dated 26-11-2002. The said ground, in substance, is that the solitary C. R. i. e. Cr. No. 183/2001 of P. S. Cantt District Lucknow on the basis of which the impugned order was passed against the petitioner-detenu was registered on 17-7-2001 and the petitioner detenu was arrested in it on 18-7-2001 and was lodged in Jail the next day i. e. on 19-7-2001 but the detention order was issued as late as 10-1-2002 i. e. after a gap of nearly seven months from the date of registration of the C. R. It has been averred that on account of this inordinate delay of nearly seven months in the issuance of the detention order the live link between the prejudicial activities of the petitioner- detenu and the rationale of clamping a detention order on him has been snapped and the detention order has lost its preventive purport and instead has acquired punitive character. The said ground has been replied to in paras 5 to 11 of the supplementary affidavit dated 2-12-2002 filed by Mr. Jeevesh Nandan (the detaining authority) and a reply to it is also contained in the grounds of detention itself. A perusal of the said paragraphs of the supplementary affidavit and the grounds of detention would make it manifest that the petitioner-detenu was arrested in the said C. R. on 18-7-2001 and was lodged in Jail the next day i. e. on 19-7-2001. In paragraph 8 of the supplementary affidavit the detaining authority has averred that the detenu applied for bail before the Lucknow Bench of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on 12-12-2001 and then it was felt that there was imminent likelihood of his getting bail and consequently the sponsoring authority Mr. N. K. Bajpai, Inspector Incharge, P. S. Cantt. , District Lucknow submitted his recommendation to the S. S. P. , Lucknow through Circle Officer, Hazratganj District Lucknow for detaining the detenu under the National Security Act. On 5-1-2002 Circle Officer, Hazratganj forwarded the recommendation to the S. S. P. , Lucknow who on 9-1-2002 recommended to him (the detaining authority) and consequently on 10-1-2002 the detenu was detained vide impugned detention order.
(3.) WE have perused the averments contained in the supplementary affidavit dated 26-11-2002 filed by Smt. Ram Dulari and those contained in paras 5 to 11 of the supplementary affidavit filed by the detaining authority and the grounds of detention and are constrained to observe that there is no merit in the pleading contained in the supplementary affidavit filed by Smt. Ram Dulari. It would become manifest from the above that C. R. No. 183/2001 of P. S. Cantt. District Lucknow was registered on 17-7-2001; the petitioner detenu was arrested in it on 18-7-2001; he was lodged in Jail on 19-7-2001; continued to remain in Jail till 10-1-2002 on which date the detention order was passed; it was only on 12- 12-2001, (the date when petitioner-detenu preferred bail application in the said C. R. in the Lucknow Bench of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad) that it was felt that there was imminent likelihood of his being released on bail in the said C. R. and consequently as is manifest from the averments contained in para 8 of the supplementary affidavit filed by the detaining authority, no time was lost thereafter in passing the detention order against him. As seen above the sponsoring authority mooted a proposal to preventively detain the detenu under the National Security Act with utmost promptitude. It is elementary common sense that sometime would have taken in formulating the proposal by the Police of Police Station Cantt. District Lucknow. The said proposal was forwarded through Circle Officer, Hazratganj, District Lucknow. The said proposal was forwarded by him (C. O.) on 5-1-2002 to the S. S. P. , Lucknow who on 9-1-2002 forwarded it to the detaining authority who on the next date i. e. on 10-1-2002 passed the detention order against the petitioner-detenu.;