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TMI Blog1962 (1) TMI 58X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... plication, under Art. 226 of the Constitution, read with s. 491 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, wherein he had prayed for a writ of Habeas Corpus against the State of Maharashtra and the District Magistrate of Nagpur, directing them to produce the petition in Court and to set him at liberty. This application was heard by us on January 8 and 9, 1962, and after hearing Shri A. S. Bobde for the appellant and the learned Attorney-General for the State of Maharashtra, we directed that the appellant be released forthwith, and that the reasons for our judgment will follow later. We now proceed to set out our reasons for the order passed on that day. It appears that an Order of Detention, under s. 3(1) (a)(ii) of the Preventive Detention Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cessions and assemblies at Nagpur; that by use of highly provocative words, expressions and slogans in meetings and processions in Nagpur, in which he took a prominent part, he had instigated persons on several occasions at Nagpur to indulge in acts of violence and mischief and to create disturbance in the city of Nagpur; and that he had been acting since October 1960, in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order, in that city. And then follow 'notable particular' of his activities, running into five closely typed pages and contained in many paragraphs. In his petition to the High Court, the petitioner raised a number of grounds of attack against the legality of the order of his detention, and most of those grounds hav ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... same for is (sic) it legally necessary under the Preventive Detention Act, 1950. The order and the grounds of detention served on you were fully explained to you by the Police Officer in the presence of the D.S.P. Nagpur City. The High Court, dealing with this contention on behalf of the detenue, came to the conclusion that under the Constitution English still continued to be the official language of the State of Maharashtra, and that service of the Order in English upon the detenue was sufficient compliance with the requirements of cl. (5) of Art. 22 of the Constitution. It also held that the failure of the District Magistrate to supply the grounds in Hindi did not have the effect of preventing him from making his representation to th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rney-General first attempted to show that the appellant knew English. In this connection he has referred to the affidavit of the District Magistrate, the exact words of which are as follows: He (the detenue) had also asked me to supply the grounds in Hindi to enable him to understand the same. I admit that I had replied to this letter and had declined to communicate the grounds in Hindi. I deny that this has been done with a view to keep the petitioner in dark as to the grounds of his detention. The petitioner as per my information, is an educated man and can understand English. The question that the petitioner did not understand the grounds, therefore, does not arise. I deny that the petitioner is entitled to receive the grounds in Hin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on in several ways. He has first contended that when the Constitution speaks of communicating the grounds of detention to the detenue, it means communication in the official language, which continues to be English; secondly the communication need not be in writing and the translation and explanation in Hindi offered by the Inspector of Police, while serving the Order of Detention and the grounds, would be enough compliance with the requirements, of the law and the Constitution; and thirdly, that it was not necessary in the circumstances of the case to supply the grounds in Hindi, in our opinion, this was not sufficient compliance in this case with the requirements of the Constitution, as laid down in cl. (5) of Art. 22. To a person, who is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cation, in this context, must mean bringing home to the detenue effective knowledge of the facts and circumstances on which the Order of Detention is based. We do not agree with the High Court in its conclusion that in every case communication of the grounds of detention in English, so long as it continues to be the official language of the State, is enough compliance with the requirements of the Constitution. If the detained person is conversant with the English language, he will naturally be in a position to understand the gravamen of the charge against him and the facts and circumstances on which the order of detention is based. But to a person who is not so conversant with the English language, in order to satisfy the requirements of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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