Sagar Janu Dhebe v. the State of Maharashtra and Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Coram: A.S. Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale, JJ.; judgment per Gadkari, J., dated 13 October 2025) allowed Writ Petition No. 3836 of 2025 filed under Article 226 by Sagar Janu Dhebe, detained in Jalna Prison under a detention order dated 30.04.2025 (OW. No./CRIME PCB/DET/SINHGAD ROAD/DHEBE/371/2025) passed by the Commissioner of Police, Pune under Section 3(2) of the MPDA Act. The grounds of detention were served in English and Marathi; the Marathi vernacular version mentioned three past preventive actions (including one dated 16.06.2021) whereas the English version mentioned only two. This material discrepancy confused the detenue and impaired his Article 22(5) right to make an effective representation; relying on Vijay Kumar Dharma Alias Koka v. Union of India, (1990) 1 SCC 606, the Court held the detention order vitiated in law, quashed it, allowed the petition in terms of prayer clause (a), and directed the Petitioner's release if not required in any other case. Keywords: preventive detention; MPDA Act 1981; grounds of detention; English-Marathi translation discrepancy; Article 22(5); effective representation; quashing of detention order; release from custody.