Case brief
What is this about?
Madras High Court, HCP No. 1838 of 2025, decided 27-04-2026 (order made by Sunder Mohan J.; bench of Dr. Justice Anita Sumanth and Justice Sunder Mohan). R. Valarmathi, wife of detenu Krishnakanth (aged 28, confined in Central Prison, Salem), challenged his detention as a 'Goonda' under Section 2(f) of the Tamil Nadu Preventive Detention Act, 1982 by order dated 20.08.2025 in C.M.P.No.45/Goonda/Salem City/2025 passed by the Commissioner of Police, Salem City. The petition was allowed: the detaining authority's satisfaction that the detenu might come out on bail was based on a statement of a relative under Section 180(3) BNSS that was neither dated nor signed, amounting to non-application of mind; reliance on it was misconceived and the inference of further criminal activities was without basis, following the Court's earlier order in HCP No. 1684 of 2025 (01.04.2026). Detention order set aside; detenu to be set at liberty forthwith unless required in any other case. Keywords: preventive detention, Goonda, habeas corpus, non-application of mind, real possibility of bail, unsigned statement, Section 180(3) BNSS, Section 2(f) Tamil Nadu Preventive Detention Act.