# Bombay v. V. H. Shah

- **Citation:** [1964] 6 S.C.R. 446
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1962-11-07
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeals Nos. 109-111 of 1963
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/bombay-v-v-h-shah-3204
- **Pages:** 16

## Headnote

1964
K. C. Thomas.
1. T. Officer,
Bombay
v.
V. H. Shah
Mudho/kor J.
1964
Ja1iuary,
29
SUPREME COURT REPORT-S
We may add that the amendment of 1953 took effect from
April I, 1953 and that of 1956 from April 1, 1956.
Apart from the view expressed by the learned Judges
as regards the effect of the changes made in s. 34( 1) with
the provisos we have set out earlier a view which we have
held is not correct-they did not further consider the proper construction to be placed on the second proviso to s.
34 ( 3) of the Aot on whlch the validity of the impugned notice to the respondents must ultimately be decided.
As we have pointed out earlier, at the beginning of the
judgment, the learned Judges confined their attention practically only to the construction of proviso (iii) to s. 34(1)
which was decided in favour of the respondents and did not
permit them to argue the other points raised by them. We
do not propose to decide these other points, particularly
for the reason that the parties are not agreect as to what pre-'
cisely were the contentions which were raised for argument.
For the reasons stated above, the decision of the High
Court is clearly wrong.
We, therefore, allow the appeal,
set aside the order of the High Court and remit the matter
to it for the consideration of the other points which were
raised before it by the respondents but upon which they
were not heard. As regards costs we think that they should
abide the result of the appeal before the High Court.
Appeal allowed and case remanded,
GODAVARI SHAMRAO PARULEKAR
v.
STA TE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS
(P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, A. K. SARKAR, K. N. WANCHOO,
K. C. DAS GUPTA AND N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR, JJ.).
Detention under Preventive Detention Act, 1950-0rder revoked by the
State Government-Re-arrest under Defence of India Rules-Validity
-Proper a~thority for passing order of detention-Allocation of
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
447
business of Governor under A.rt. 166(3) of Constitution whether
necessary--Satisfaction of State
Government that detention
is
necessary-Who should pass order of detention-Revocation of
order of detention during pendency of appeal.
Appellants were first detained on November 7, 1962 under Preventive
Detention Act, 1950. That order was revoked by the Government and
the appellants were released but re-arrested under Rule 30 of the Defence
of India Rules.
The orders of detention were served on appellants in
Jail. Tue appellants challenged those orders in the High Court by filing
habe:is corpus petitions under Art. 226 of the Constilutio:1 and <;, 491
of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The writ petitions were ;iismissed
by the High Court and the appellants came to this Court under a certificate from the High Court.
The contentions raised by the appellants were that their detention was
illegal because the detention order was served on them when they were
in jail, that the orders of detention were passed without the satisfaction
of the authority concerned regarding their necessity, the satisfaction was
to be that of the Governor and not of any Minister, that there should
have been fresh allocation of business by the Governor under Art. l66(3)
of the Constitution after the passing of the Defence of India Ordinance,
Act and Rules. that before the State Government could exercise the power
conferred by Rule 30, there had to be delegation by the Central Government that the order of detention did not show that s. 44 of Defence of
India Act was kept in mind when the order was made and that unless
the order showed on the face of it that the State Government thought
that detention was the only mode in which the purpose of the Act and
Rules could be carried out, the order was bad. Dismissing the appeals.
Held:
The orders of detention passed by the State Government and
their service on the appellants in jail were perfectly valid and did not
make the detention illegal. The appellants were detained not as undertrials or as
convicted persons but as detenus and hence the

## Text

1964
K. C. Thomas.
1. T. Officer,
Bombay
v.
V. H. Shah
Mudho/kor J.
1964
Ja1iuary,
29
SUPREME COURT REPORT-S
We may add that the amendment of 1953 took effect from
April I, 1953 and that of 1956 from April 1, 1956.
Apart from the view expressed by the learned Judges
as regards the effect of the changes made in s. 34( 1) with
the provisos we have set out earlier a view which we have
held is not correct-they did not further consider the proper construction to be placed on the second proviso to s.
34 ( 3) of the Aot on whlch the validity of the impugned notice to the respondents must ultimately be decided.
As we have pointed out earlier, at the beginning of the
judgment, the learned Judges confined their attention practically only to the construction of proviso (iii) to s. 34(1)
which was decided in favour of the respondents and did not
permit them to argue the other points raised by them. We
do not propose to decide these other points, particularly
for the reason that the parties are not agreect as to what pre-'
cisely were the contentions which were raised for argument.
For the reasons stated above, the decision of the High
Court is clearly wrong.
We, therefore, allow the appeal,
set aside the order of the High Court and remit the matter
to it for the consideration of the other points which were
raised before it by the respondents but upon which they
were not heard. As regards costs we think that they should
abide the result of the appeal before the High Court.
Appeal allowed and case remanded,
GODAVARI SHAMRAO PARULEKAR
v.
STA TE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS
(P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, A. K. SARKAR, K. N. WANCHOO,
K. C. DAS GUPTA AND N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR, JJ.).
Detention under Preventive Detention Act, 1950-0rder revoked by the
State Government-Re-arrest under Defence of India Rules-Validity
-Proper a~thority for passing order of detention-Allocation of
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
447
business of Governor under A.rt. 166(3) of Constitution whether
necessary--Satisfaction of State
Government that detention
is
necessary-Who should pass order of detention-Revocation of
order of detention during pendency of appeal.
Appellants were first detained on November 7, 1962 under Preventive
Detention Act, 1950. That order was revoked by the Government and
the appellants were released but re-arrested under Rule 30 of the Defence
of India Rules.
The orders of detention were served on appellants in
Jail. Tue appellants challenged those orders in the High Court by filing
habe:is corpus petitions under Art. 226 of the Constilutio:1 and <;, 491
of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The writ petitions were ;iismissed
by the High Court and the appellants came to this Court under a certificate from the High Court.
The contentions raised by the appellants were that their detention was
illegal because the detention order was served on them when they were
in jail, that the orders of detention were passed without the satisfaction
of the authority concerned regarding their necessity, the satisfaction was
to be that of the Governor and not of any Minister, that there should
have been fresh allocation of business by the Governor under Art. l66(3)
of the Constitution after the passing of the Defence of India Ordinance,
Act and Rules. that before the State Government could exercise the power
conferred by Rule 30, there had to be delegation by the Central Government that the order of detention did not show that s. 44 of Defence of
India Act was kept in mind when the order was made and that unless
the order showed on the face of it that the State Government thought
that detention was the only mode in which the purpose of the Act and
Rules could be carried out, the order was bad. Dismissing the appeals.
Held:
The orders of detention passed by the State Government and
their service on the appellants in jail were perfectly valid and did not
make the detention illegal. The appellants were detained not as undertrials or as
convicted persons but as detenus and hence the cases of
Rameshwar Shaw and Makhan Singh Tarsikka did not apply in the present
case.
Reading the detention order as a whole, it was clear that it did say
in substance that it was necessary to detain the appellants with a view to
preventing them from acting in a manner prejudicial to the Defence of
India, public safety and maintenance of public order. There was no difference between the words ''so to do'' in Rule 30 and the words "to make
the following order" in the detention order.
As the detention order mentioned both the defence
of India and
maintenance of public order, such an order could be made on the satisfaction of a Minister who was incharge of both the subjects in view of
the Rules of Business promulgated by the Governor.
It was not necessary that fresh allocation of business should be made
by the Governor under Art. 166(3) after the passing of the Defence of
India Ordinance, Act and Rules. It is enough if the allocation of the
1964
G. S. Parulekar
;.
Statr. of 1Wahara•
shtra
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
1964
subject to which the Defence of India Ordinance, Act and Rules refer bas
G. S. Parulekar
~een made wit~ reference to _the ~ee lists in the Seventh Schedule and
v.
if such allocallon aJready exists, It may be taken advantage of if and
State of Mahara~ when laws are passed.
shtra
Rule 30 of the Defence of India Rules lays down that the power can
be exercised by the Central Government or the State Government and
hence no further delegation is necessary in favour of the State Government for the exercise of power under Rule 30.
It is true that s. 44 of the Defence of India Act provides that there
should be as little interference with the ordinary
avocation of life as
possible when orders are made under the Act or the Rules, but that does
not mean that a detention order must show on the face of it that the
State Government had considered the various clauses of Rule 30( 1) and
had come to the conclusion that the only way in which the purpose of the
Act and the Rules could be carried out was by the use of Rule 30(1){b).
When the order says that it is necessary to make an order of detention
in order to restrain the prejudicial activities mentioned therein, it means
that that was the only way which the State Government thought was
necessary to adopt in order to meet the situation. it is for ~ti~ detenu to
show that the order had gone beyond the needs of the situation and was
therefore contrary to s. 44.
Mak/w11 Singh Tarsikka v. State of Punjab A.I.R. 1964 S.C:
381
Keshav Talvade v. King Emperor, [1944] F.C.R. 57, Rames/1war Shaw
v.
District Magistrate, Burdwan, A.l.R. 1964 S.C. 334, J.lakhan Singh
Tarasikka v. State of Puniab, A.l.R. 1964 S.C. 1120, rderred to
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeals
Nos. 109-111 of 1963.
Appeals from the judgment and order dated May 31,
1963, of the Bombay High Court in Criminal Applications
ll<os. 217, 218 and 114 of 1963.
The appellants (in Cr. A. Nos. 109 & 110 of 1963)
appeared in person.
Janardan Sharma and Appellant a/so, for the Appellant
(in Cr. A. No. 111 of 1963).
N. S. Bindra and R. H. Dhebar, for
respondents (in
Cr. A. Nos. 109-111of1963).
Purushottam Trikamdas and R. H. Dhebar, for the respondents (in Cr. A. No. 110 of 1963).
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME· COURT REPORTS
449
January 29, 1964. The Judgment of the Court was
ItH
delivered by
G. s. PllrliltMr
W ANCHOO J.-These three appeals on certificates grant· St<ll~ 0,V-MtJ!ultt>
ed by the Bombay High Court raise common questions of
11ttra
law and will be dealt with together. They arise out of three
WMCll# 1•
habeas corpus petitions filed by the appellants in the High
Court under s. 491 of the Code of Crimin~ Procelurc
challenging their detention under r. 30 of the Defence ol
India Rules (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). A large
number of constitutional questions were raised in the applications and were decided by the High Court against
the
appellants. These appeals came up for hearing in August
1963 along with some otll.er appeals from decisions of other
High Courts, and the constitutional questions were decided
by this Court on September 2, 1963, (see Makhan Singh
Tarsikka v. State of Punjab) (1). It was held therein that the
applications under s. 491 (1) of the Code of Criminal Pn>-
cedure were incompetent in so far as they sought to challenge the validity of the detention on the ground that the
Defence of India Act and Rules framed thereunder suffer
from the vice that they contravened the fundamental right~
guaranteed by Arts. 14, 21, 22(4), (5) and (7). The other
points raised in the appeals were not considered at that
time and it was directed that the appeals should be set
down for hearing before a Constitution Bench to be dealt
with in accordance with law. Consequently, these appeals
have been put up before this Bench for disposal of
the
other points raised therein.
A preliminary objection has however, been raised on
behalf of the State to the hearing of these appeals on the
ground that the orders under which the appellants were detained and which are under consideration in these appeals
had been revoked by the State Government and fresh orders
of detention had been passed, and in
consequence these
appeals had become infructuous. Reliance in this connection is placed on the decision of the Federal Court in Keshar
Talpade v. King Emperor( 2 ). In that case the detenu was
released while his appeal was pending before the Federal
Court.
It was however urged on his behalf
that even
(1) A.I.R. (1964) S.C. 381.
134-859 s.c.-29.
'.
~ '
. ,,.
, '
450
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1964]
1964
though he had been release<! and no order could thereafter
a S p,
I k
be made on the habeas corpus application, the court should
\ .. arut ar
.
•
v.
pronounce an opiruon on the correctness of the High Court
.Stat• 0"'1,,Mahara• judgment.
The Federal Court refused to do so and dis-
•
~
missed the appeal on the ground that no order in the appeal
11'1111Choo 1.
could be made after the release of the detenu. Generally
speaking, no useful purpose would be served by the appeal
court deciding the appeal in a habeas corpus matter where
the detenu has been released before the appeal comes up
for final hearing.
But the facts in the presem case
are
different. Here what has happened is that the earlier order
of detention which is the basis of the present appeals has
been revoked by the Government of Maharashtra on the
ground of a technical defect and a fresh order of detention
was passed on the same date, and the appellants were immedii!tely re-arrested after their release from jail under the
fresh order of detention. In the Federal Court case, however, it ai;ipears thait the detenu was released and there was
no question of a fresh order of detention being made on the
same day leading to his re-arrest. In the circumstances, it
is urged by the appellants that though technically the appellants were released before the present appeals came up for
final hearing, in substance they are under detention even
now and the points of law raised by them against the earlier
.:>rder of detention will apply equally to the fresh order of
detention. It is therefore urged that the Court should dectde the present appeals as that would settle the law and
help the detenus in case they make fresh application under
1. 491 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the fresh
order of detention. It is further urged that the appellants
ibtend after the emergency is over to sue for damages for
false imprisonment and the order of the Bombay High Court
would stand in their way fu. case such a suit is brought, and
therefore an authoritative pronouncement on the questions
dl law raised should be made by this Court in the present
appeals, even though technically the order out of which the
present appeals have arise_n has been revoked. We are of
opinion that the circumstances of the present cases
are
dilferent from the circumstances in Keshav Ta/pade's case(')
and therefore it would be in the interests of justice to decide
(1) [1944 J F.C.R. 57·
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
451 .
the points raised in the present appeals. We may add that
1964
there is nothing to preclude this Court from deciding th·-
G. s. Parulel»r
appeals even though the order from which these appeals s r '{~·
have arisen has been revoked, though ordinarily this Court tate ~/UN
would not do so. But as we have already indicated, it
seems to us just and fair in view of the fact that the appellants have not been finally released and are still under do--
tention under a fresh order of detention under the Rules
that the points raised in these appeals should be decided.
The points are of general importance and are likely to arise
in many cases.
We therefore over-rule the preliminary
objection.
The facts in the three appeals are similar and we shall
therefore briefly refer to the facts in Appeal No. 110 for tbs
purposes of dealing with the points raised on behalf of th•
appellants.
The appellants were first
detained on November
7,
1962 by an order made by the Commissioner of Police,
Greater Bombay, under the Preventive Detention Act, No.
IV of 1950. The matter was then reported to the Government. Before this, however, the security of India had been
threatened by the Chinese invasion and an Emergency had
been declared under Art. 352 of the Constitution. Further
on October 26, 1962, the Defence of India Ordinance 1962
was passed, followed by the Rules framed thereunder. When
the matter came before the Government, it decided that the
order of November 7, 1962 made by the Commissioner of
Police should be
revoked and
ordered
accordingly on
November 10. On the same day, the Government decided
to detain the appellants and passed an order under r. 30 of
the Rules. This order said that with a view to preventing
the appellants from acting in a manner prejudicial to the
defence of India, the public safety and the maintenance of
public order, it was necessary to detain them, and therefore
in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Government
by r. 30 of the Rules, the Government directed the detention of the appellants. This order was served on the appeJ-.
!ants in jail. It was challenged by the appellants by filing
habeas corpus petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution
and under s. 491 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The
Wanclu>o J.
452
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
Jiff
High Court, as already indicated, dismissed the applicat10ns
._ & l/ilrulekar but granted leave to the appellants to appeal to this Court.
....., .t M htu. • The constitutional points raised, as already indicated, were
""""
0
" decided by this Court on September 2, 1963, and now we
are concerned with the other points raised on behalf of the
lr-1ro<> I.
appellants.
The first contention that has been urged is that the detention is illegal inasmuch as the detention order was served
on the appellants while they were in jail, and reliance in
this connection is placed on the judgments of this Court in
the cases of Rameshwar Shaw v. Distric! Magistrate, Burdwan('), and Makhan Singh
Tarsikka v. The State of
Punjab('). In those cases, it was held by this Court that
where a person Is detained in jail as an under-trial prisoner
no qrder of detention either under the l'reventive Detention
Ac;:t or under the Rules could be serve.:! on him because one
of the necessary ingredients which go to make up the satisfaction of the detaining authority is necessarily absent in
such a case. It was pointed out in Rameshwar Shaw's
case(') that "before an authority can legitimately come to
the conclusion that the detention of the person is necessary
to prevent him from acting in a prejudicial manner, the
authority has to be satisfied that if the person is not
detained, he would act in a prejudicial manner and
that inevitably postulates freedom of action to the said
person at the relevant time. If a person is already in
jail custody, how can it rationally be postulated that if
he is not detained, he would act in a prejudicial manner?
At the point of time when an order of detention is going
to be served on a person, it must be patent that the
said person would act prejudicially if he is not detained
and that is a consideration which would be absent when the
authority is dealing with a person already in detention." The
same principle was reiterated in the case of Makhan Singh
Tarsikka( 2 ). There is however a vital difference between the
facts of those two cases and the facts in the present appeals.
Those two cases were concerned with the service of an
order of detention under the Preventive Detention Act or
under the Rules on a person who was in jail in one of two
( 1) A. I.
1964 S.C. 334,
(2) A. I. R. 1964 S.C. 1120
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
453
circumstances, namely-(!) where he was in jail as an
1964
under-trial prisoner and the period for which he was in jail G. s. ;;;;w,..
was indeterminate, or (2) where he was in jail as a convictv.
ed person and the period of his sentence had still to run State 0!,::-
for some length of time. In those cases the service of the
order of detention under the Preventive Detention Act or
under the Rules in jail would not be legal for one of the
necessary ingredients about which the authority haa to be
satisfied would be absent, namely, that it was necessary to
detain the person concerned which could only be postulated
of a person who was not already in prison. In the present
cases, however, the appellants were not
under detention
either as under-trial prisoners for an indeterminate time or
as convicted persons whose sentences were still to run for
some length of time.
They were detained under the Preventive Detention Act by an order of November 7, 1962
which had been reported to Government for approval and
which order could only remain in force for 12 days under
s. 3 (3) of the Preventive Detention Act unless in the meantime it had been approved by the State Government. The
State Government, however, decided on November IO, 1962,
to revoke the order of the Commissioner of Police under
the Preventive Detention Act and to pass an order itself
under the Rules. In those circumstances, the principle of
the two cases referred to above would not in our opinion
apply, for the detention of the appellants depended upon
the approval of the State Government. The State Government, however, decided to revoke the order of November
7, 1962 and instead decided to pass an order under the
Rules on the same day, namely November 10, 1962. In
these circumstances it would be in our opinion an empty
formality to allow the appellants to go out of jail on the
revocation of the order of November 7, and to serve them
with the order dated November I 0, 1962 as soon as they
were out of jail. Where the detention is not of the two
kinds considered in the cases of Rameshwar Shaw(') and
Makhan Singh Tarsikka( 2 ) and is either under the Preventive
Detention Act or under the Rules, and its duration is dependent upon the will of the State Government, we cannot see
any reason for holding that if the State Government decides
1964 s.c. 334.
(2) A. I. R. 1964 S.C. n20.
Wanc.9o I.
454
·SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1g64j
IM
to revoke an earlier order of detention it cannot pass a fresh
-
a. s p,,,,.q, order of detention the same day and serve it on the detenu
....., !° MaJuuo. in jail, for the two orders are really of the same nature and
..
are directed towards the same purpose. Further the order
w ......... I.
of the Commissioner dated November 7, 1962 was subject
to the approval of the State Government without which
it could only be in force for 12 days.
In these circumstances the order passed by the State Government on November
10 under the Rules when it had decided to revoke the order
af November 7, 1962, would in our opinion be perfectly
valid so far as the time of the making of the order was concerned and its service in jail on the persons who were detained not as under-trials or as convicted persons but as de·
tenus, could not be assailed on the ground on which the
order of detention was assailed in the cases of Rameshwar
Shaw{1 ) and Makhan Singh Tariskka(2). The principal of
those two cases cannot in our opinion be applied to a case
where a fresh order of detention is passed after the cancellation or revocation of an earlier order of detention. 'The
contention therefore that the making of the order of
detention on November 10, 1962 or its service in jail in
these cases, makes the detention illegal, must be negatived.
It is next urged that the detaining authority has failed
to arrive at that kind of satisfaction which the Rules require. This contention is based on the words of the order
dated November 10, 1962.
Rule 30 inter alia lays down
that the State Government, if it is satisfied with respect to
any particular person that with a view to preventing him
from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of
India and civil defence, the public safety, the maintenance
of public order, India's relations with foreign powers, the
maintenance of peaceful conditions in any part of India,
lhe efficient conduct of military operations or the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the
community, it is necessary so to do, may make an order
directing that the person be detained. Now the order of
November 10, 1962 is in these terms:-
"No. S.B.Ill/DOR.1162-IV
Home Department (Special)
(1) A.LR. 1964 S.c. 334.
(2) A.I.R. 1964 S.c. n20.
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
455
ORDER
1964
"Whereas the Government of Maharashtra is sarisG. s. ;rJllebr
fled with respect to the person known as Shri St.r~ of JUJ:!zr ..
Shamrao Visimu Parulekar of Bombay that
~
with a v:ew to preventing him from acting in a'
W:Pnchoo J.
n::annm- Fejudicial · to the defence of India,
the public safety and. the maintenance· of pu°!>'
lie order, it is necessary to make the following
order:
"Now; therefore, in exercise of the. powers conferred,
upon it by rule 3 0 of the Defence of India
Rules, 1962, the Government of Maharashtra·
does hereby direct that the said Shri Shamrao
Vishnu Parulekar be detained.
Sachivalaya, Bombay,
By order and in the name of
the Governor of Maharashtra.
Sd. Deputy Secretary to
Government of Maharashtra,.
(Home Department)
this 10th day of November, 1962".
The contention of th() appellants is that the first part of the
order does not say that it is· necessary to detain the appellants. The words used in the first part of the ordet are "it
is necessary to make ·the following order" and then follo\vs ·
the second part which says that the
Government directs·
that the said person be detained. \Ve are of opinion that
when the first part ·says "it is necessary to make the following order'', it in effect says that "it is necessary so to · do"
which is what r. 30 of the Rules requires.
Reading· the
order as a whole, in substance it does say that it is necessary to detain the person with a vfow to preventing him
from acting in a manner prejudicial to the defence of India,
etc. In r. 30 the words are "so to do" while in the order
they are "to make the following order". The two expressions in our opinion mean the same thing. and 1we cannot•
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
l964
accept the argument that the satisfaction necessary under
·, G. s. Parulelar r. 3 0 of the Rules was not arrived at in these cases by the
StaJe ol" Ma/uua. authority making the order.
·
&htra
·._
\
~
·
Then it•.is urged that as the Sta_te Government is equiWanchoo 1•
valant to the Governor,· it is the Governor who should be
satisfied and not the Home Minister as is the case according
to the affidavit filed on behalf of the State Gove=ent.
The State Gove=ent in this
connection relies on the ·
Rules of Business, copy of which has been made available
to us.
These rules have been framed by the Governor
under Art. 166 of ·the Constitution for the more convenient transaction of the business of Government and for the
alfocation among Ministers of the said business.
In
the affidavit on behalf of the State Gove=ent reliance is
. placed on item 2 (b) of the First Schedule to the Rules of
Business dealing with subjects allocated to the Home Department (Special), entry (7) which provides for preventive
detention for reasons connected with the security of a State,
!lie maintenance of public order or the maintenance of
supplies and services essential to the community. During the
liearing, our attention was drawn. to item (I) of the First
Scliedule to the Rules of Business dealing
with subjects
r alfotted to General Administration Department, entry (44),
which provides for preventive detention for reasons connected with defence, foreign affairs or the security of India.
It is obvious from ihe .Rules of Business that preventive
detention has been divid~ into two parts and allocated to
two dillerent departments.
Where preventive detention is
fur reasons connected with the security of a State,
t1ie r.iaintenance of public order or the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community, it can be dealt
with by the Minister in-charge of. item 2 (b) dealing with
. suojects allocated to the Home Department (Special); but
wliere the preventive detention is for reasons connected with
de.fence, foreign affairs or the security of India, it can be '
dealt with by the Minister in-charge of item 1 relating to
sufijects allotted to the General Administration Department.
Tiie detention order in the present cases states that it was
made with a view to preventing the appellants from acting
in a manner prejudicial to the defence of In~ia, the public
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
457
safety and the maintenance of public order. As the deten1964
tion order mentions both the defence of India and
the a. s. PllllllUllr
maintenance of public order, such an order could only be
v.
made by a Minister who was in-charge both of item 1 relating Stat• "/,,,!,,,_.
to subjects allotted to the General Administration Department and of item 2(b) relating to subjects allotted to Home
Wanclloo 1•
Department (~ecial). In the affidavit on behalf of the
State the order was sought to be justified on the ground
that it was made by the Home Minister in-charge of item
2 (b) relating to subjects allocated to the Home Department
(Special) . We are of opinion that as the detention order
was for reasons connected with the defence of India also,
it could not be dealt with under item 2 (b), entry (7) only
which item deals with subjects allocated to the Home Department (Special) and had to be dealt by a Minister who
was in-charge of both item 1 relating to subjects allotted to
the General Administration Department
and item 2 (b)
relating to subjects allotted to Home Deparment (Special).
In the original affidavit filed on behalf of the State it was
however not clear whether the Minister
who dealt with
these orders was also in-charge of the subjects allotted to the
General Administration Department but it was stated
at
the bar that the Minister who dealt with the matter and
passed the order on the basis of which the appellants were
detained was in -charge not only of item 2 (b) relatiiig to
subjects allocated to the Home Department (Special) but
was also in-charge of item 1 relating to subjects allotted to
the General Administration Department.
We therefore
called upon the State Government to file an affidavit to that
effect and an affidavit was filed on December 21, 1963.
That affidavit says that the order of November IO, 1962 was
passed by the Chief Minister who was at the relevent time
in-charge both of the General Administration Department
as well as the Home Department (Special).
We have
already referred to the terms of the order of detention.
That order refers to three reasons as· the basis for the order.
namely, (i) the defence of India, (ii) the public safety, and
(iii) the maintenance of public order. Now preventive detention connected with the defence of India could only be
ordered under the Rules of Business by the Minister who
was in-charge of the General Administration Department
458
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
1964
while preventive detention for reasons ·connected with the
O. s. Parulekar maintenance of public order could only be ordered by the
Stat. o{Mahara· Minister in-charge of subjects allocated to the Home Depart-
•htra
ment (Special).
The order therefore in the present case
Wanchoo I.
could only be made by a Minister who was in-charge both
of subjects allotted to the General Administration Department and subjects allotted to the Home Department (Special). In view of the affidavit now filed it appears that the
Chief Minister was in-charge of both the departments and
in the circumstances be could pass the order under challenge.
The contention under this bead must therefore fail.
The next argument is that there is no order of allocation
made by the Governor under Art. 166 of the Constitution
after the passing of the Defence of India Ordinance and
the Rules framed thereunder and therefore the allocation
of business by the Rules of Business which were enforced
by an order of tbe Governor dated May 1, 1960 would not
be of any effect in allocating the subject of preventive detention arising under the Defence of India Ordinance Act and
the Rules to the Minister and the Governor should have
passed the order of detention himself. We are of opinion
that there is no force in this contention. Allocation of business under Art 166 (2) of the Constitution is not made
with reference to particular laws which may be
in force
at the time the allocation is made; it is made with reference
to the three lists of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, for the executive power of the Centre and the State
together extends to matters with respect to which Parliament
and the Legislature of a State may make laws. Therefore,
when allocation of business is made it is made with reference to the three Lists in the Seventh Schedule and thus
the allocation in the Rules of Business provides for all contingencies which may arise for the exercise of the executive
power. Such allocation may be made even in advance of
legislation made by Parliament to be available whenever
Parliament makes legislation conferring power on a State
Government with respect to rn atters in List I of the Seventh
Schedule. It was therefore in our opinion not necessary
that there should have been an allocation made by the
Governor under Art. 166 ( 3) of the power to detain under
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
459
f I d. 0 d"
A
d R 1
ft
th
G. s. P.uultkar
the Defence o
n 1a
r mance,
ct an
u es a er
ey
v.
were passed; it will be enough if the allocation of the su1'-
State of Maharaject to which the Defence of India Ordinance, Act and Rules
shtra
refer has been made with reference to the three Lists in the
Wanchoo 1.
Seventh Schedule and if such allocation already exists, it
may be taken advantage of if and when laws are passed.
Preventive detention is provided for in List I, item 9, for
reasons connected with defence, foreign affairs
and the
security of India, and in item 3 of List III for reasons connected with the security of a State, the maintenance of public order, or the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community. The allocation of business
made
under Art. 166 is in pursuance of these entries in the three
Lists in the Seventh Schedule and would be available to be
used whenever any law relating to these entries is made and
JX'Wer is conferred on the State Government to act under
that Jaw.
The contention of the appellants that fresh allocation should have been made under Art. 166 (3) by the
Governor after the passing of the Defence of India Ordinance, Act and Rules must therefore fail.
Lastly reliance is placed on ss. 40 and 44 of the Defence of India Act. Section 40 gives power to the Central
Government to delegate its powers under the Act or the
Rules to any officer or authority subordinate to the Central
Government or to any State Government or any officer or
authority subordinate to such Government or to any other
authority, and the argument is that before the State Government can exercise the power conferred by r. 30, there has
to be a delegation by the Central Government. This argument in our opinion is misconceived. It is true that s. 40
gives authority to the Central Government to delegate its
powers un.~er the Act or the Rules to the State Government
and others. But no delegation under that section is required for the exercise of the power under r. 30 by the State
Government, for r. 30 itself lays down that the power therein can be exercised by the Central Government or the State
Government.
No further delegation therefore was
necessary in favour of the State Government in so far as the exercise of power under r. 30 is concerned.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
1964
Next it is urged that the order of detention does not
G. s. Parulekar show that s. 44 was kept in mind when it was made. SecState or Mahara- lion 44 lays down that "any authority or person acting in
1htra
pursuance of this Act shall interfere with the ordinary avoWanchoo J.
cations of life and the enjoyment of property as little as
may be consonant with the purpose of ensuring the public
safety and interest and the defence of India and civil defence". It is ·urged that an order of detention necessarily
interferes completely with the ordinary avocation of life
of the person detained and therefore before such .an order
could be made, s. 44 should be borne: in mind. Therefore
the order of detention is to be made when it is the only way
of carrying out the purposes of the Act, for s. 44 provides
that there should be as little interference with the ordinary
avocations of life as possible under the Act. The argument
further is that r. 30 (1) provides as many as eight clauses
which provide for the regulation of conduct of an individual
and cl. (b) relating to detention, which amounts to complete
interference with the avoc;ition of life of the detenu cou 1
only be resorted to in view of s. 44 when it is shown that
no other way of regulating the conduct of the person detained as provided in the other clauses of r. 30 (I) would
meet the needs of the situ;ition. So it is urged that unless
the order shows on the face of it that the State Government
thought that the detention was the only mode in which the
purposes of the Act and the Rules could be carried out, the
order would ht bad in view of s. 44 of the Act. We are of
opinion that there is no force in this contention. It is true
that s. 44 prvvides that there should be as little interference
with the ordinary avocations of life as possible when orders
are made under the Act or the Rules; but that does not
mean that a detention order must show on the face of
i•
that the State Government had
considered the
various
clauses of r. 30 (1) and had come to the conclusion that
the only way in which the purposes of the Act and the
Rules could be carried out was by the use of cl. (b) of r. 30
( 1). In our opinion when the order says that it is necessary
to make an order of detention in order to restrain the prejudicial activities mentioned therein it means that that was
the.only way which the State Government thought was necessary to adopt in order to meet the situation. It will then
6 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
be for the detenu to show that the order bad gone beyond
1964
the needs of the situation and was therefore contrary to s. 44. a. s. Paruldar
No such thing bas been shown in the present cases and we s
1v.M_L
. fi d h
b
d . .
.
b
.d
tale 0
anaraare satis e t at t e or ers m queshon cannot e sa1 to go
•htra
beyond the needs of the situation, even assuming that s. 44
is mandatory as urged on behalf of the appellants and no:
merely directory as urged on behalf of the State.
The appeals therefore fail and are hereby dismissed.
Appeals dismissed
STATE OF GUJARAT
v.
Wanchoo I.
VORA FIDDALI BADRUDDIN MITHIBARWALA
1964
(B. P. SINHA, C. J., K. SuBBA RAO,
M. HIDAYATULLAII,
January SO,
J. C. SHAH,
RAGHUBAR
DAYAL,
N.
RAJAGOPALA
AYYANGAR AND J. R. MUDHOLKAR JJ.)
Act of State-Ruler of a 11ative 1tate granted certain right1 in /ore:ll to
gra1ttecs-State merged with Domini'on of India-Dominion of India
did not recognise the grant-Effect of non-recognition before Co11sti·
tution and after Constitution-If
non-recognitio:t
of the
grant
anJounts to an act of State-Government of India Act 1935-Constitution of India, Art. 32.
The Ruler of the State of Sant bad issued a Tharao dated 12th March
1948, granting full right and authority to the jagirdars over the forests
in their respective villages. Pursuant to the agreement dated March 19,
1948, the State of Sant merged with the Dominion of India. On October
1, 1948, Shree V. P. Menon, Secretary to the Government of India, wrote
a letter to the Maharana of Sant State expressly declaring that no order
passed or action taken by the Maharana before the day of April !st
1948, would be questioned.
After merger there was obstruction by the
forest officers when the respondents were cutting the forests, but after
some correspondence they were permitted to cut the trees on furnishing
an undertaking that they would abide by the decision of the government.
The Government of Bombay, after considering the implications of the
Tharao, decided that the order was ma/a nde and cancelled it on 8th July
1949
In the meantime these respondents were stopped ;rom working
the forests by the Government of Bombay.