Hyderabad: Errors committed by the police while detaining habitual offenders under the preventive detention Act is resulting in easy acquittals. In several cases, the High Court found fault with the police for failing to follow procedure laid down under the Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Dacoits, Drug Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Land Grabbers Act, (PD Act) 1986.
The court quashed the detention after finding the police did not furnish documents to the detainee in a language he /she is familiar with, within five days, lack of proof to show that the detainee was a repeat offender and passing orders mechanically.
Ordering the release of one Chittikesi Sadashivudu of Warangal, detained for stocking black jaggery to make illicit liquor, the HC observed, “if a person can at best be detained for a maximum period of 12 months, so as to achieve the objective of preventing him from taking to the dangerous activity, if an event had happened fairly sometime back, say, by a substantive length of this tenure, such an event cannot be considered as a proximate one at all.”
The High Court struck down the detention of one Kumar Gurappa Bagalkoti a Kannadiga who was detained by the Hyderabad police for allegedly cheating the public promising cure for diseases by establishing an ayurvedic medicine shop in Kapadia Towers, Secunderabad on the ground of not supplying documents in Kannada.
The High Court set aside detention orders against Surender Singh and Phool Singh from Haryana after find that the police failed to supply translated copies to the detainees within the statutory period in Hindi. The court imposed Rs 50,000 punitive costs on the government while setting aside their detention. Mr. H Venugopal, counsel for the home department, said most orders were set aside on technicalities.
He said the detainees took advantage of law laid down by the Supreme Court with regard to supply of material record in the known language of the detainees.
Mr Venugopal said that in G. Reddeiah v Govt. of AP the apex court had observed that the detainee could approach the Advisory Board seeking documents in a known language. Admitting that the HC had set aside a majority of detention orders, he said about 600 cases were pending with the court.
Advisory board has vital role
Ms B Mohana Reddy, advocate dealing with PD Act cases in the High Court said that when a person is detained, the authority has to furnish copies of all documents on which he relied for within five days of the detention along with the detention order.
The authority has to send the order for the approval of the State Level Advisory Board which has to decide within three weeks. The government must issue GO on the board’s decision within seven weeks. The accused should not be detained beyond three months unless the board reports there is sufficient cause for detention.
