The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the the most cherished right which cannot be taken away even temporarily without following the procedure established by law is the right to personal liberty and individual’s freedom.
A Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice CT Ravikumar, held that a detention order is illegal if its grounds do not meet the proof.
The Court said that the right of personal liberty and individual freedom which is probably the most cherished is not, in any manner, arbitrarily to be taken away from him [the instant respondent] even temporarily without following the procedure prescribed by law
The bench further said that once the detenu was able to satisfy while assailing the order of detention before the High Court in exercise of jurisdiction Article 226 of the Constitution holding that the grounds of detention did not satisfy the rigors of proof as a foundational effect the same renders the order of detention illegal.
The top court, has upheld an order by the Manipur High Court which had set aside the present respondent’s preventive detention in connection with a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).
The respondent B Abdul Hanan was released from preventive detention when the court realized that authority had failed to supply legible copies of documents relied upon while passing the detention order.
Also it had noted that Hanan was kept in detention for over a year which was the upper limit as per the law.
The argument by the counsel was that the respondent had not raised any objection at any stage before the detaining authority as the pages of the documents relied upon by the detaining authority were illegible or blurred.
The Bench noted the submission of the parties and dismissed the appeal by the State.