Vahid Khan Saifulla Khan v. the State of Maharashtra through Its Principal Secretary, Special Home Department,Mantralaya,Mumbai
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench), Division Bench, Crl.W.P. No. 742 of 2024, decided 07/03/2025 — Vahid Khan v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. MPDA Act 1981 preventive detention as 'bootlegger' under S. 3(2) quashed; grounds: absence of FSL/Chemical Analyser report in one of the two S. 65(d) Maharashtra Prohibition Act offences considered; earlier offences wrongly used; live-link gap of ~100 days; proposal preceding verification of witness statements; vague, general and identical statements of two unnamed witnesses insufficient for 'prejudicial to public order' satisfaction; precedents relied on: District Collector Ananthapur v. V. Laxmanna (2005 DGLS (SC) 2745) and Arjun Ratan Gaikwad v. State of Maharashtra (SLP (Cri.) No. 12516 of 2024); Arnesh Kumar referred re S. 41-A CrPC notice; also S. 144 CrPC, S. 95 Maharashtra Prohibition Act, S. 56 Maharashtra Police Act preventive steps noted; outcome: petition allowed, detention quashed, petitioner released, rule made absolute.