CHENNAI: There cannot be any hard and fast rule to ascertain a delay in the passing of preventive detention orders, a Full Bench of the Madras High Court has ruled.
The Bench of Justice R. Balasubramanian, Justice S.K. Krishnan and Justice R. Regupathi was passing orders on a question of law referred to it by a Division Bench.
The legal position
In its order of reference, the Division Bench had said: “Since the question of delay in passing order of detention is being raised repeatedly in several matters, it is necessary to clarify the legal position authoritatively. We feel it appropriate to refer the matter to a larger bench to consider the question whether detention order is vitiated merely on the ground of delay in passing the detention order.” The Full Bench referred to the Supreme Court order in T.A.Abdul Rahman vs. State of Kerala case, in which it was held that no exhaustive guidelines could be laid down in such matters. The question whether the live link between the prejudicial activities of a person and the purpose of detention was snapped depended on the facts and circumstances of each case, it held.
The Full Bench, which heard the submissions of Public Prosecutor Raja Ilango and counsel Abbudukumar Rajarathinam, said: “It is clear from the law laid down by the Supreme Court that there cannot be any hard and fast rule in deciding when the delay in passing the detention order would affect or would not affect the detention order. The Supreme Court has been consistently holding that how far the delay in passing the impugned order would affect the detention order itself would depend upon the facts available in each case.”
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