2009 (1) TMI 877 - HC - Customs

Summary

Issues involved: Challenge against Ext.P23 order passed u/s 3(1) of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.

Details of the judgment:

1. The petitioner was summoned by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in relation to the seizure of Heroin. Despite appearing before the DRI, the petitioner was later arrested and detained under Ext.P23 order. The petitioner challenged the detention order, citing exceptional circumstances based on the judgment in Deepak Bajaj v. State of Maharashtra & Anr.

2. The petitioner argued that the relevant documents were not produced before the Detaining Authority, similar to the case in Deepak Bajaj. However, the court found that the petitioner did not specify which documents were not presented, and the challenge seemed to focus on the admissibility of the documents already considered.

3. The petitioner alleged that the Senior Intelligence Officer of the DRI fabricated evidence against him due to complaints filed by the petitioner's wife and himself. The court noted that there was no evidence of preexisting malafide motive by the Officer, and the Officer was not even named in the petition, making it difficult to consider the malafide claim.

4. The petitioner contended that the detention order was issued despite an undertaking by the DRI not to arrest him. However, the court found that the undertaking had been lifted before the detention order was issued, rendering this argument factually incorrect.

5. The court clarified that its findings were limited to the maintainability of the writ petition at the pre-execution stage of Ext.P23 and did not reflect a judgment on the merits of the order. Ultimately, the writ petition was dismissed.