Anshika Tiwari –
On Saturday, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Telangana Government and has sought a response from it within a week’s period.
The Court was hearing a petition where the accused after being released on bail, was put under Preventive Detention for the same offences for which he had been granted bail by the court. In the instant case, the designated authorities of the Telangana Government invoked the provisions of the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act to put the accused under Preventive Detention.
The three-judge bench comprising of Justices R F Nariman, K.M. Joseph and B.R. Gavai expressed their dismay over the case.
They said that it was surprising to note that grant of bail to an accused had no practical meaning in Telangana as the state police could invoke provisions of the Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act to put a person under preventive detention for the same offences for which he had been granted bail by the Court.
The accused, a stock trader was booked for duping persons of their money in the garb of investment in the Stock Market.
As a consequence, five FIRs were registered against him in the Medchal police station under the Cyberabad police commissioner. In all five cases, the court released him on bail.
Advocate Gaurav Agrawal, Counsel for the accused argued that powers under preventive detention law should be sparingly used by the authorities only if the danger of the commission of a crime is real and proximate as preventive detention is against the constitutional ethos.
He also argued that the authority, by putting the accused under preventive detention under Section 3 of the act immediately after he was released on bail, exercised its powers in a whimsical manner.
It not only violated his Right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 but also conveniently denied the well-considered bail orders of the court.
Issuing the notice to the government the division bench remarked,
“It is a draconian law clearly against the liberty of persons and it is surprising that no one has challenged the validity of the law”.
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