[J. M. SHELAT AND H. R. KHANNA, JJ.) B Maintenance of Internal se,·urity Adt (26 of 1971), S. 3-Maintenancc 'IOj ptthtic order,' scope of, The petition·.;:r and hb assocjtes attacked · .a hushand and wit!; with dpell .lmive; in the ....- third .. class · co !'J1larttncnt · of a !_llnniiig traio w robbed them of valuable property by putting them ,nt'fear of death 'OR ·l)lle occasion, and on another occasion, attack!W a police party oo &be plllitforin of a railway station wit bombs, daJger~. knives and iron c rods and exploded bombs with a view to kill the police party. Tt·" petitioner was. deta:n:d hv un order under s. 3 of the Maintenan~ of Internal Security Act . 1971 with a view to preventing him from actin2 in 11ny ltl1lnner prejudicial to te maintenance of public order, and tlr.! wownds of detention were that the two incidencts created terror aM panic among passenger; and disturbed public order. Tr.r! petitioner challenged the order of detention in this Court.D Dismissing the petition. HELD : Beth the incidents referred to in the order affectd public order and not rterelv law and order. [550 E-FJ The question whether <t man only committ·~d a breach of law and order or has act-ed in a manner likely to cause disturbance of the public order, is a question -of dcgr·:!c and tl'!e extent of the reach of the act E upon the society. The test to be adopt.cd in determinin~ whett.er an act affects law and order or public order is : Does it lead to. distur· bance of the current of life of the community so as to amount to a disturbance of the Public or~r · or does it aff.ect merely an individual leaving the tranquillity of the society undisturbed ? When two paS9!ngers are robbed at the point of knives while travelling in a third class compartment of -a running train the act affects not only the passengers who ar•.! deprived of their valuables but also the other· passengers F who are watching in ft~a'r as helpless spectators. Likewise, . the attack against the police pM'ty on the platform of a railway station by exploding bombs is bound .to create panic and confusion among the passengers at the railway station. Consequently, there is bound ·to be terror and panic amongst the travelling pu!>lic. Therefore, th:: acts in question, in the very nature of things, would adversely affect the even tempo of liti! of the community and cause a general disturbance of · public tranquillity. [550 A-Fl G Tapan Kumar Mukherjee and ors. v. State of We.r Btngal, A.I.R. 1972 S.C. 840. followed.
