V.K.JHANJI, J. - (1.) THIS will dispose of Criminal Writ Petition No. 116 of 1994, Amrik Singh v. The Secretary to Government Punjab, and Criminal Writ Petition No. 110 of 1994, Suba Singh v. The Secretary to Government, Punjab, as common question of law and facts and involved therein.
(2.) AMRIK Singh and Suba Singh, petitioners in these writ petitions, are seeking a writ, order or direction for quashing of order of detention dated 17.2.1994 and 15.2.1994 respectively, passed by the respondent being illegal, without jurisdiction and having been made for wrongful purposes, and not a preventive, but as a punitive measure, and having been passed on vague, extraneous and irrelevant grounds, thus, rendering the same lacking in bona -fide.
(3.) THE petitions have been filed at the pre -detention stage. In brief, the facts as stated in the petition are that the petitioner, who at the relevant time was working as A.S.I. of Police, was called by the Customs Department on 10.4.1993 by issuing summons under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 (in short, the Act) and asked to make some statement regarding the allegations leveled against him by Satbir Singh and Balwinder Singh, in which they had alleged that on 2.1.1993, Satbir Singh, Suba Singh (petitioner in other writ petition, Crl.W.P. No. 110 of 1994), Balwinder Singh and the petitioner went to Pathankot - Jalandhar road between Bhogpur and Tanda, and all of them snatched the scooter and gold biscuits from Paramjit Singh, and fled away with the same. Petitioner denied all the allegations and did not make any statement, when the petitioner was sent on official duty to Kapurthala alongwith Constable, Suba Singh, there he was interrogated and taken into custody on 7.2.1993, whereafter was told that a smuggling case has been registered against him on 9.2.1993 vide F.I.R. No. 21 dated 9.2.1993 lodged with Police Station Kapurthala. The trial Court discharged the petitioner in the said F.I.R. and accordingly, he was reinstated in service in police department. Thereafter, another case No. 229/93 dated 8.6.1993 based on F.I.R. No. 13 of 1993, P.S. 'A' Division, Amritsar, was tried by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Amritsar, against Paramjit Singh, Satbir Singh, Balwinder Singh, Suba Singh (petitioner in Cr1. W.P. No. 110 of 1994) and the petitioner under Section 411/414 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Gold Control Act, and the petitioner was discharged by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class on 3.7.1993. It was only on 17.2.1994 that the respondent passed Detention Order No. 1/17 -94 -3HIII (COFEPOSA)/322 dated 17.2.1994. Though the petitioner, uptil now, has not been arrested in pursuance to the said detention order, yet he has produced the copy of detention order as well as the grounds of detention. The detention order is being sought to be quashed inter alia on the following grounds : - (i) That at the time the Detaining Authority passed the detention order, the vital fact regarding discharge of the petitioner in the abovementioned two cases was not brought to its notice; (ii) That the order of detention is 13 -1/2 months after the alleged incident mentioned in the grounds of detention and, thus, is clearly illegal since there is no proximity between the alleged activity and passing of the detention order; (iii) That the Customs Department had on 30.7.1993, issued a show - cause notice to the petitioner, to which the petitioner submitted his reply on 1.9.1993, but the Detaining Authority did not take into consideration the same at the time of passing of detention order and, therefore, the detention order is liable to be quashed on this ground. In answer to the petition, reply has been filed by Sint. Amrita Atwal, Deputy Secretary Home, Punjab, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, on behalf of the respondent. It has been stated therein that the main smugglar, Satbir Singh, from whom recovery of 119 contraband gold was made, has disclosed by way of confessional statements dated 8.2.1993, 17.2.1993, 23.2.1993 and 24.2.1993, that the petitioner has actively participated and associated with them in snatching of gold from Paramjit Singh @ Pamma, near Bhogpur on Jalandhar -Pathankot road. Apart from the said Satbir Singh, one Baiwinder Singh @ Billa in his statement dated 6.3.1993 has also confirmed the same fact regarding snatching of gold biscuits from Paramjit Singh by the petitioner with the help of other co -associates. The confessional statements of Satbir Singh and Balwinder Singh cannot be over -sighted because the same were voluntary in nature. Respondents have denied that the petitioner along Suba Singh, Constable, was sent on official duty to Kapurthala. Respondents has further denied that the petitioner was taken into custody on 7.2.1993. According to the respondents, the petitioner and his co -associates, Balwinder Singh and Paramjit Singh, were apprehended on 9.2.1993 at about 12.30 P.M. by Surjit Singh, Inspector, CIA staff Kapurthala, while he had held special Naka near the bus -stop of village Khirawali. On personal search; recovery of 15 gold biscuits was made from Balwinder Singh, while 10 gold biscuits each were recovered from Paramjit Singh and the petitioner, which was a part of consignment of 200 gold biscuits snatched by them. Petitioner was arrested on 9.2.1993 along with Paramjit Singh and Balwinder Singh and case, FIR No. 21 dated 9.2.1993 was registered against them at P.S. Kotwali, Kapurthala. Case No. 229, i.e. FIR No. 13 of 1993, dated 8.6.1993 was also registered at Police Station 'A' Division, Amritsar. Respondents have also explained the time consumed in passing the order of detention. Respondents have also stated that the detention order was passed after due application of mind and on the basis of material placed before the Detaining Authority.;