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TMI Blog1956 (9) TMI 56X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion on 13-1-1956, it was his duty under section 3(3) to report that fact forthwith to the State Government -and as be did not do so until 21-1-1956, he had acted in contravention of the statute, and that the detention was therefore illegal. That raises the question as to what "forthwith" in section 3 (3) of the Act signifies, and whether on the facts the report was made "forthwith", within the meaning of that word in that sub-section. The word "forthwith", it has been observed, is of elastic import. In its literal sense, it might be construed as meaning that the act to be performed forth;with in relation to another should follow it automatically without any interval of time, or, -as held in some of the American. authorities, should be performed at one and the same time as the other. But even in America, the preponderance of judicial opinion does not favour this construction. In Corpus Juris, Volume 26, page 998 the position is thus stated: "Although the term has received a strict conStruction, ordinarily it is not to be strictly construed, but should receive a liberal or reasonable construction-. Some regard must be had to the nature of the act or thing to be performed and the c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (acts of Parliament) "could be construed literally, consistently with common sense and justice, undoubtedly they ought; and if I could see, upon this act of, Parliament, that it was the intention of the legislature that not a single moment's interval should take place before the granting of the certificate, I should think myself bound to defer to that declared intention. But it is admitted that this cannot be its interpretation; we are therefore to see how, consistently with common sense and the principles of justice, the words 'immediately afterwards' are to be construed. If they do not mean that it is to be done the very instant afterwards,do they mean within ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, afterwards? I think we should interpret them to mean, within such reason- able time as will exclude the danger of intervening facts operating upon the mind of the Judge, so as to disturb the impression made upon it by the evidence in the cause". In agreeing with this opinion, Alderson, B. expressly approved of the decision of Lord Hardwicke in Rex v. Francis(1). This construction of the word 'immediately' was adopted in Page v. Pearce(), Lord Abinger C. B. observing: ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... opy of the notice of appeal shall forthwith be sent by the appellant to the registrar of the court appealed from". The facts were that the appeal was lodged in time on 25-10-1938 but the notice was served on 28-10-1938, and it was found that there was "no satisfactory reason or no reason at all, why there was any delay in the matter" (Re Muscovitch(4)). On that, it was held that the requisition that "the notice shall forthwith be sent" was not satisfied. This is authority only for the position that when an Act is done after an interval of time and there is no explanation forthcoming for the delay, it cannot be held to have been done "forthwith". That is made clear by Sir Wilfrid Greene M. R. in the following passage in Re Muscovitch(1) at page 139: "Having regard to the construction which was put upon the word 'forthwith' which is peremptory, and. admits of no interval of time between the entry of the appeal and the sending of the notice save such as may be imposed by circumstances, which cannot be avoided, I find it impossible in the present case to say that the notice was sent forthwith within the meaning of the rule". Reliance is also placed for the petitioners on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at when two different expressions are used in different parts of the same clause or section, they should be construed as used in different senses. We agree that "forthwith" in section 3(3) cannot mean the same thing as "as soon as may be" in section 7, and that the former is more peremptory than the latter. The difference between the two expressions lies, in our opinion, in this that while under section 7 the time that is allowed to the authority to send the communication to the detenu is what is reasonably convenient, under section 3(3) what is allowed is only the period during which he could not, without any fault of his own, send the report. Under section 7 the question is whether the time taken for communicating the grounds is reasonably requisite. Under section 3(3) it is whether the report has been sent at the earliest point of time possible, and when there is an inter-val of time between the date of the order and the date of the report, what has to be con- sidered is whether the delay in sending the report could have been avoided. It was contended that as section 7 required that the communication should be made not later than 5 days from the date of the order, and as sectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 1956 and after having done so, to arrest all of them simultaneously so that none of them may go underground or abscond or evade execution of the detention orders". Then the affidavit goes on to state: "It was not possible for me to send the report earlier as the situation in the City of Greater Bombay was tense, pregnant with danger on the 13th January 1956, and continued to be so till 16th January 1956, and actual rioting occurred during that night and those riots continued till 22nd January 1956. I and my staff were kept extremely busy all throughout in maintaining law and order and simultaneously taking steps to round up miscreants. In this unusual and tense situation, it was not possible to make a report earlier than the day on which it was made". - We see no reason for not accepting these statements. What happened on the 16th and the following days are now matters of history. The great city of bombay was convulsed in disorders, which are among the worst that this country has witnessed. The Bombay police had a most difficult task to perform in securing life and property, and the authorities must have been working at high pressure in maintaining law and order. It is obvious th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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