KOCHI: Not supplying the documents relied upon for ordering preventive detention under COFEPOSA Act amounts to violation of the detenue’s constitutional right, the Kerala High Court has held while quashing a detention order issued by the Joint Secretary COFEPOSA of Ministry of Finance.
A division bench comprising justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed Nias CP quashed the detention order issued by the joint secretary on August 24, 2021 after considering three petitions (WP-Crl. Nos. 107, 108, and 109 of 2022) challenging the order against three of the accused in a case alleging smuggling of gold bars worth Rs7.16 crores by hiding them in a refrigerator’s compressor.
In the judgment, the court said non-supply of the documents vitally affected the right of the detenus under Article 22(5). This Article provides that a person being detained under preventive detention should be informed of the grounds on which the order against him was issued as soon as possible and should be afforded the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order.
The petitioners’ counsel M Ajay had contended that certain documents needed for making an effective representation were denied to the detenus.
“In spite of a specific request, as seen from Ext. P12 in the above cases, we find copies were not given. In as much as the contents of the above being relied upon and they have not been given despite asking for them, we feel there has been an infraction of the right of the detenus to make an effective representation seeking release,” the court said while quashing the detention order.
