SUKHDEV SINGH KANG, J. - (1.) THIS is a petition under Articles 226/227 of The Constitution of India for the issuance of a writ in the nature of an habeas corpus directing release of the petitioner Bakhshish Singh, who is an officer of the Punjab and Sind Bank, at Amritsar, and is now said to be under unlawful detention Bakhshish Singh, petitioner, is a dedicated follower of Bhoi Randhir Singh, who was a devout Sikh. He performs kirtan, at different places to propagate Sikh faith and by force of habit and conviction he wears the dress of a conventional Sikh, which to a great that extent resembles the wearing apparels of Nihang Sikhs. Bakhshish Singh was implicated as an accused in case FLA No. 89 dated 7th June, 1982, under Section 1.3 of the Unlawful Activities. (Prevention)- Act, registered at Police Station Dhilwan, District Kapurthala. He was served with orders of detention dated 9th August, 1982, passed by the District Magistrate, Kapurthala. under section 3 (2), read with section 3 (3) of the National Security Act, 1990 (for short. 'the Act'). Along with the detention order, the petitioner was supplied with grounds of detention. It was mentioned therein that on the 4th or 5th of June, 1982, Bakhashish and his three named companions incited people present at bust-stop Of Village Niani to become members of 'Dal Khalsa. which is a banned organisation. He also exhorted people to donate liberally for the achievement off a separate State of Khalistan by seceding from the Union of India. Similar exhortations were made by him and his companions at Bus Stop, Batala, on, the 7th of June, 1982.
(2.) THE writ petition first came up for hearing before me. Feeling that the points raised in the writ petition were of some importance, I referred the case for decision by a Larger Bench. That is how this writ petition is before us. In order to appreciate the points in. controversy, it will be apposite to set down the grounds of detention in extenso. They read as follows "You Bakhshish Singh aforesaid on 4th or 5th June, 1982 along with your companions namely Piara Singh s/o Sham Singh, resident of Batala, P.S. Dhilwan, Baldev Singh s/o Bhagat Singh resident of Mansurwal, and Harbans Singh s/o Shankar Singh resident of Sangowal, all belonging to P.S. Dhilwan, District K were present at the bus stop village Niani and were inciting the people collected thereto become the members of Dal Khalsa which is a banned organisation You were also asking them that a separate State of 'Khalistan' was to the created by secession from the Union of India. You had also told the people collected there that the said State of 'Khalistan' will only be meant for 'Sikhs' and asked them to donate money liberally for the achievement of this objective. You along with your companions collected donations of Rs. 50/- or Rs. 100/- for the said purpose from various persons. Ground No. 2 : Again on 7 6.82 at about evening time you along with Piara Singh, Baldev Singh and Harbans Singh were present at Bus Stop of your village Batala and exhorted the people collected there to donate liberally for the creation of a separate State of 'Khalistan' by secession from the Union of India and had also collected an amount of Rs. 50/- or 100/for the aforesaid purpose."
(3.) THE Constitution, in Article 21 and in other Articles of Part III, has attempted to strike a balance between individual liberty and the general interest of the Society. The power of preventive detention was acquiesced in as a necessary evil. However, certain fundamental rights were guaranteed in clauses (4) to (7) of Article 22 of the Constitution to persons arrested or detained, under arty law for preventive detention, without a regular judicial trial or inquiry. The power of preventive detention has been hedged by diverse procedural safe-guards devised to minimise, as far as possible, the danger of its misuse by the executive. And, to highlight their importance, Article 22 has been placed in Part III of the Constitution, which enshrines fundamental rights.;