Criminal Writ Petition No. 1215 of 2012. Case: Dharmendra Kamlakar Tangadi Vs Commissioner of Police, Thane and Ors. High Court of Bombay (India)
| Case Number | Criminal Writ Petition No. 1215 of 2012 |
| Counsel | For Petitioner: U. N. Tripathi, Adv. and For State: Mrs. A. S. Pai, A.P.P. |
| Judges | A. M. Khanwilkar, J. and A. R. Joshi , J. |
| Issue | Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug Offenders and Dangerous Persons Act (55 of 1981) - Section 3 |
| Citation | 2012 CriLJ 3798 |
| Judgement Date | June 25, 2012 |
| Court | High Court of Bombay (India) |
Judgment:
A. M. Khanwilkar, J.
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Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Counsel for the respondents waive notice. Heard finally forthwith, by consent.
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This habeas corpus petition is filed by the brother-in-law of the detenu Shri. Janardan alias Janyadada Chintaman Bhoir, who has been detained under the order of the Commissioner of Police, Thane, dated 10th February, 2012, passed in exercise of powers conferred under Section 3(2) of The Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug-offenders and Dangerous Persons Act, 1981 (hereinafter referred to as "MPDA Act"). This order is challenged in the present petition.
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The detenu was taken into custody and was served with copy of the order and the grounds of detention, directing his detention with a view to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order, in future. He has been detained in Yerwada Prison, Pune. The grounds of the detention, refer to the background necessitating the detention of the detenu as his activities were found to be violent and terrorising criminal character as per the record of Narpoli Police Station, Thane. In the Gunda Register, maintained at the Police Station, cases have been registered against him for indulging in criminal activities since 1995, such as, murder, riots, attempt to commit murder, abduction, hurt, grievous hurt, extortion, wrongful restrain, restraining the Government servant in his lawful work etc., punishable under the provisions of Indian Penal Code, as also of illegal possession of weapons, punishable under the Bombay Police Act. It is noted that the detenu has no ostensible means of livelihood. He moves in the area with weapons and do not hesitate to use the same in commission of offences. He has chosen criminal activities as his means of livelihood.
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The detenu was detained by the Commissioner of Police, Thane, vide order dated 30th June, 2005, under Section 3 of the MPDA Act, which order was confirmed by the Advisory Board. Once again, he was detained vide order dated 29th May, 2007, passed by the Commissioner of Police, under Section 3 of the MPDA Act and even that order was confirmed by the Advisory Board. In paragraph 4 of the grounds of detention, it is mentioned that the criminal activities of the detenu have continued unabated. Reference is then made to the specific incident occurred on 11th October, 2011, at 8.00 p. m. and that case has been registered as C. R. No. I-276/2011 for offences punishable under Sections 385, 387, 506(2), 342, 323, 427, 34 of Indian Penal Code. It is stated that the detenu was arrested in connection with the said case, but has been released on bail on 23rd October, 2011, pursuant to the order of the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, 2nd Court, Bhiwandi. It is stated that the said case is still under investigation. Reference is then made to the anonymous application received from the residents of Walgaon Village, Bhiwandi, complaining about the atrocious acts of the detenu and his associates in the area. The contents of the said application have been adverted to. Thereafter, details regarding information received from unknown person, on telephone, on 14 January, 2011, at about 18.15 hours, by the Narpoli Police Station, regarding criminal activities of the detenu and his associates, in public place, with weapons, such as chopper etc., which resulted in creating terror in the people, who started running towards their houses and closed doors, has been noted. Upon receipt of such information, the Beat Marshal No. 3 of Narpoli Police Station reached the spot and found that the shops and other activities in the area were completely closed and the villagers were running shelter-skelter. On seeing arrival of the police, the detenu and his associates fled away from the place. Because of this incident, police had to deploy fix point bandobast, Beat Marshal, Mobile Patrolling in the area to restore normalcy.
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In paragraph 5 of the grounds of detention, reference is made to in-camera statements of the two victims, who gave their statements only after they were taken into confidence and assured that their names and identity would be kept secret and they would not be called anywhere or before any open forum to depose about the detenu. It is stated that the in-camera statements were duly verified by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bhiwandi (East) Division. The gist of the two in-camera statements is reproduced. The in-camera statements of witness 'A' was recorded on 14th November, 2011. That witness has mentioned about the criminal activities of the detenu and the incident of 30th October, 2011. Similarly, the in-camera statement of witness 'B' was recorded on 25th November, 2011. Even he has mentioned about the criminal activities of the detenu and his associates in the area and specific incident of 29th October, 2011. On the basis of this material, the Detaining Authority was of the opinion that issuance of order of detention, against the detenu was inevitable to prevent him from acting in similar prejudicial manner in future. It would be useful to reproduce Paragraphs 6 and 7 of the grounds of detention, which read thus:
"6. From the instances quoted in paras 4 and 5(a)(i) and (ii) above for the grounds of detention, I am subjectively satisfied that you are a criminal character of violent and terrorizing nature, indulging in criminal activities only to establish your criminal awe in the area and thereby to procure the pecuniary benefits by way of committing the offences in the limits of Narpoli Police Station, Thane under Thane Police Commissionerate. Your such criminal acts are punishable under chapters XVI and XVII of Indian Penal Code. You are habitually involved in the criminal activities which adversely affect and also likely to affect adversely the maintenance of public order of the said locality and as such you are a 'dangerous person', as defined in Section 2(b1) of the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug-offenders and Dangerous Persons and Video Pirates Act, 1981 (Mah. Act No. LV of 1981) (Amendment 1996) (Mah. Ord. X of 2009), read with Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India. The preventive actions taken against you under existing law of the land are found insufficient to curb your criminal activities. You have created your criminal awe and a reign of terror in the locality by way of indulging in criminal activities of violent and terrorizing nature. As a result of this you have made life of residents and small businessmen of the area under Narpoli Police Station, miserable. They are experiencing a sense of insecurity and carrying their daily vocation under constant shadow of fear, I am further convinced that you will again indulge in similar activities in future and that it would result in further disturbance to the maintenance of public order of the area. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to detain you under the provisions of Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Slumlords, Bootleggers, Drug-offenders and Dangerous Persons and Video Pirates Act, 1981 (Mah. Act No. LV of 1981) (Amendment 1996) (Mah. Ord. X of 2009), read with Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India."
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I have carefully gone through the material placed before me and I am subjectively satisfied that you are acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order. I have also perused in camera statements recorded by the Police Inspector (Crime), Narpoli Police Station, duly verified by the Asstt...
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