The Bombay High Court has set aside an order of Pune Police Commissioner detaining a man under a stringent law on the ground that a copy of documents pertaining to detention was not given to him which deprived him of his right to make an effective representation to the authorities.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by Rohidas alias Pintya Laxman Gupte who challenged the police chief's order of October 4, 2014, detaining him under Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Dangerous Persons and Video Pirates Act (MPDA).
The detention order, apart from the previous criminal history of the detenu, was based on two crime reports and two in-camera statements of witnesses.
At the time of detention, Gupte, a resident of Pune, was served with the impugned order citing the grounds of detention along with documents relied upon by the detaining authority.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Ajay Gadkari noted, "Though in-camera statements of two witnesses have been served along with the documents, a copy of the verification done by the Assistant Commissioner of Police has not been furnished to the petitioner thereby affecting the right of the detenu under Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India to make an effective representation."
The Pune Police Commissioner, who was the detaining authority, in his affidavit dated April 7, said the original statements of witnesses 'A' and 'B' show that the verification was done by the concerned Assistant Commissioner of Police and these statements were produced before him which he perused.
However, a copy of such verification was not given to the detenu as a result of which his detention was vitiated, the court noted in their order recently.
The judges ordered the release of the petitioner, who is in custody in Yerwada prison in Pune since October 4 last year, while disposing of his petition.
