Sasti@ Satish Chowdhary v. State of West Bengal
Case brief
What is this about?
Writ Petition No. 37 of 1972, Art. 32 habeas corpus, decided May 2, 1972; bench J. M. Shelat and H. R. Khanna (author). MISA 1971 s. 3 detention upheld although the ground (theft of overhead electric wires disrupting electricity supply) was an IPC offence; possibility of prosecution, evidentiary inadequacy under the Evidence Act, and prior discharge by a magistrate are no bar to detention; ground held germane to s. 3(1)(a)(iii) object (maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community); petition dismissed.
What did the court decide?
It is always open to the detaining authority to pass an order for the detention of a person if the grounds of detention are germane to the object for which a detention order can legally be made; the fact that the particular act of the detenu which provides the reason for the detention order constitutes an offence under the Indian Penal Code does not prevent the detaining authority from passing the order for detention instead of proceeding against him in a court of law.