Harries, J. - (1.) THESE are two petitions -under Section 491, Criminal P.C.
(2.) IN Miscellaneous Case no. 85 of 1948 the petitioner is one Jnan Prasanna Das Gupta who has filed the petition on behalf of his brother Satya Prasanna Das Gupta who is at present detained in the Presidency Jail, Alipore, In, Misc. case. No. 108 of 1948 the petitioner is Balendra Nath Mukherjee who has filed the -petition on behalf of his brother Hiren Mukherjee who is also detained in the Presidency jail,. Alipore. In the petition filed in Misc. case No, 8fr of 1948 it is stated that the detained person, Satya Prasanna Das Gupta, was an active worker in the Communist Party of India and an important Trade Union leader in the industrial1 area of Barraokpore. It is alleged that. Satya. Prasanna Das Gupta was very successful in. persuading industrial workers in the Barrack -pore area to join the All India Trade - Union. - Congress and to break away or refuse to join the Indian'National Trade Union Congress, an organisation which he regarded as hostile to the real interest of the working classes. It is further alleged that the said Indian National Trade Union Congress is an organisation supported by the Congress Party and that its leaders include two Ministers of the Province, Bri Ealipada Mukherjee and Sri Niharendu Dutta Mazumdar and other members of the . Legislative Assembly belonging to the Congress Party. It is suggested that Satya Prasanna Das Gupta was detained under the West Bengal Security Act, in order to prevent him carrying on propaganda for the All India Trade Union Congress and further to prevent him from supporting communist candidates in bye -elections which have become necessary by reason of the appointment of certain persons as Ministers -in West Bengal who are at present not members of the Legislature. In short it is suggested that the detention of Satya Prasanna Das Gupta was ordered maliciously and that the conduct of the Provincial Government has been through, out mala fide.
(3.) IN the petition filed on behalf of Hiren Mukherjee, it is stated that the latter is a Master of Arts of the Universities of Calcutta and Oxford, a Bachelor of Literature of the University of Oxford, a member of the English Bar and an Advocate of this Court. It is said that he had a brilliant academic career be to in the University of Calcutta and at Oxford and that he was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in or about the year 1931. On his return to India he was enrolled as an advocate in this Court and has been for some time a Professor of History first at the Andhra University and now at Eipon College, Calcutta. It is then alleged that Hiten Mukherjee is a journalist of repute and has been engaged to contribute articles to well -known papers such as the. "Statesman" and the equally well -known legal journal, the "Calcutta Weekly Notes". It is further stated that he is an author of repute and that a number of his be os in English and Bengali are widely read, It is alleged that in or about the year 1942, Hiren Mukherjee who had been a member of the Indian National Congress for several years, severed his connection with that party and joined the CommuniBt Party. It is stated however that he has never been guilty of any un -lawful act and that there were no grounds whatsoever to justify his detention. Like Satya Prasanna Das Gupta he also alleges that one of the reasons for his detention is that he has been an active worker in the AH -India Trade Union Congress which is the rival organisation to the Indian National Trade Union Congress said -. to be. -sponsored by the Congress Party. It is alleged that the arrest and detention of Hiren, Mukherjee was ordered maliciously in order to prevent his carrying on propaganda for the All. India Trade Union Congress and attacking the Indian National Trade Union Congress.;