Disposed¶18

Roshan Lal v. Union of India & Anr.

Delhi HC29 Apr 2026W.P.(CRL)/1163/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

W.P.(CRL) 1163/2026, Delhi High Court, decided 29.04.2026 by Navin Chawla & Ravinder Dudeja, JJ.; habeas corpus writ petition by Roshan Lal against preventive detention order no. U-11011/19/25PITNDPS dated 26.02.2026 under Section 3(1) PITNDPS Act 1988; detenue held at Central Prison, Puzhal, Chennai; detention order revoked by respondent on 22.04.2026 with direction for forthwith release; Advisory Board (Tamil Nadu) jurisdiction question left open as academic; petition disposed of as infructuous; no cases cited; no quantum involved.

What did the court decide?

No relief granted by the court; the petition was disposed of as infructuous following the respondent's revocation of the detention order (order dated 22.04.2026) directing the petitioner's forthwith release. ¶18

Roshan Lal Vs Union of India & Anr. — Narcotics (NDPS) | Delhi HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether a writ/direction in the nature of habeas corpus should issue quashing/setting aside the detention order no. U-11011/19/25PITNDPS dated 26.02.2026 passed under Section 3(1) of the PITNDPS Act, 1988. +3 more

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Ratio / Principle

Once the Detention Order has been revoked, the question whether jurisdiction properly vested in the Advisory Board constituted at the State of Tamil Nadu becomes merely academic, and the court leaves it open to be determined in an appropriate petition.

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Key takeaways

The present petition has been rendered infructuous by the revocation of the detention order and is accordingly disposed of as such.ratio¶18

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Delhi High Court (Navin Chawla & Ravinder Dudeja, JJ.) disposed of as infructuous a habeas-corpus writ petition (W.P.(CRL) 1163/2026) filed by Roshan Lal challenging preventive detention order no. U-11011/19/25PITNDPS dated 26.02.2026 passed by the Joint Secretary, Government of India under Section 3(1) of the PITNDPS Act, 1988. At the hearing, counsel for the respondent handed over an order dated 22.04.2026 by which the detention order had been revoked and the petitioner's forthwith release directed, unless continued detention was required in any other matter. Although petitioner's counsel pressed for determination of whether jurisdiction properly vested in the Advisory Board constituted at the State of Tamil Nadu, the court held that with the detention order revoked the question was purely academic and left it open to be determined in an appropriate petition. The reliefs sought — quashing of the detention order, filing of representation before the Delhi Advisory Board instead of Madras, and transfer from Central Prison, Puzhal to Tihar Jail — were therefore not adjudicated.

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$~2

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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W.P.(CRL) 1163/2026 ROSHAN LAL .....Petitioner Through: Mr. UA Khan, Mr. Tushar Upadhyaya, Advs.

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versus

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UNION OF INDIA & ANR. .....Respondent

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Through: Mr. Neeraj Kumar, CGSC, for UOI.

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Mr. Amol Sinha, ASC with Mr Kshitiz Garg, Mr. Ashvini Kumar, Ms. Chavi Lazarus, Mr. Nitish Dhawan, Mr. Anshul Sharma, Advs. and Insp. Vikas Pannu, SI Vipin Rathi, ANTF/Crime Branch for State.

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAVIN CHAWLA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAVINDER DUDEJA O R D E R % 29.04.2026

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This petition has been filed by the petitioner praying for the

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following relief:

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i. Issue a writ/direction in the nature of Habeas Corpus for quashing/set aside the impugned detention order bearing no. U-11011/19/25PITNDPS dated 26.02.2026 passed by Sh. Anupam Prakash, The Joint Secretary, Govt. of India under section 3 (1) of The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substance (PITNDPS) Act 1988, or that.

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ii. Allow the petitioner/detenue to file his representation before the Hon’ble Advisory Board Delhi High Court, New Delhi instead of Hon’ble Advisory Board Madras High Court, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/05/2026 at 13:08:36

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iii. Kindly direct the detaining authority (Respondent no.1) to shift the petitioner/detenue from the Central Prison, Puzhal, Chennai, Tamil Nadu to Tihar Jail, New Delhi or to any other jail of Delhi during the period of impugned preventive detention order dated 26.02.2026….

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The learned counsel for the respondent has handed over a copy of the order dated 22.04.2026, by which the respondent has revoked the Impugned Detention Order and directed the forthwith release of the petitioner, unless continued detention is required in any other matter.

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Though the learned counsel for the petitioner insists that the question as to whether the jurisdiction vested in the Advisory Board constituted at the State of Tamil Nadu was proper or not, should be determined in the present petition, in our view, once the Detention Order has been revoked, the aforesaid issue would only be an academic question which we leave open to be determined in an appropriate petition.

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The present petition has been rendered infructuous and is, accordingly disposed of as such.

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NAVIN CHAWLA, J

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RAVINDER DUDEJA, J

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APRIL 29, 2026/lks/sk/pb

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 02/05/2026 at 13:08:36

Roshan Lal v. Union of India & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Roshan Lal v. Union of India & Anr.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

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