Chennai: The Madras High Court declined to quash an order of the Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore, under the Goondas Act, detaining A.Julfigar (25), who broke open an ATM of the Axis Bank in Peelamedu and stole Rs 26.70 lakh on December 11, 2017.
A division bench comprising Justices S.M.Subramaniam and S.Ramathilagam dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed by Mohammed Shakil, brother of Julfigar, challenging the detention order of January 11 on the ground that there was an inordinate delay in considering his representation.
Rejecting the contention of the petitioner, the bench said, “We are of the considered opinion that the detenue is involved in many such cases, which are all of very serious in nature and affecting public peace and tranquillity. On a perusal of the list of cases in which the detenue is wanted all over the country, we are of the opinion that considering the case of the petitioner will certainly cause prejudice to public order.”
The bench said that after the implementation of demonetisation in our country, people were mostly using ATM cards and credit cards and cashless transactions had risen.
“This being the prevailing situation, we are of the opinion that crimes committed by breaking open ATMs will certainly affect public order and, the state has to take stringent action against such offences,” the bench added.
The bench said apart from the ground of delay, the petitioner was unable to raise any other legally acceptable ground, so as to consider his case for release.
“We have carefully analysed the factual circumstances, nature of the allegations against the detenue and the number of cases in which the detenue is alleged to have been involved and therefore, we have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that it is not a fit case to release the detenue,” the bench added.
