# PANDHARINATH SHRIDHAR RANGNEKAR v. DY. COMMR. OF POLICE, THE ST ATE OF MAHARASHTRA

- **Citation:** [1973] 3 S.C.R. 63
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1972-12-11
- **Case number:** Criminal Appeal No. 14 of 1972
- **Bench:** H. R. Khanna, Y. V. Chandrachud
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/pandharinath-shridhar-rangnekar-v-dy-commr-of-police-the-st-ate-of-maharashtra-5913
- **Pages:** 13

## Headnote

Bombay Police Act (22 of 1951)-Ss. 56, 59-Externment Or,lerDuty to infonn "the general nature of the material allegations"-Full dis~
closure of particulars if necessary--!/ the externing authority and the State
government should give reasoned order-Order of extern.ment if shou!d be
restricted to area chosen for unla•~'ful activities.
Section 56 of the Bombay Police Act provides that whenever it shall
appear, in Greater Bomb&y, to the Commissioner (a) that the movements
or acts of any person are causing or are calculateJ to c&:.ise alarm, danger
or harm to person or property or (b) that there >re reooonable grounds
for believing that such person is engaged or is about to be engaged in the
commission of offence involving force or violence or an offence pun_ishable
under Chapter 22, 16 and 17 of the Indian Penal Code, and when in the
opinion of such officer witnesses are not willing to come fon\·ard tv give
evidence in public against such person by reason of apprehension o:i their
part as regards safety of their person or property, the said officer may
by order in writing direct such person to remove himself outside the area
within the local limits of his jurisdiction or such area and any district or
districts, or any pa.rt thereof contiguous thereto, within such time as the
said officer may prescribe and not to enter or return to the said are::. from
which be was directed to remove himself.
Section 59(1) requires that
before an order under s. 56 is passed against any person the officer shall
inform that person in writing "of the general nature of the material allegations against him'' and give him a reasonable opportunity of tendering an
explanation regarding those allegations.
The appellant was served with ., notice under s. 56 of the Act. The
allegations were that the appellant's acts and movements were causing
alarm and danger to the residents of certain localities within the jurisdic·
tion of Vile Parle Police Station, that he was given to assaulting the resi·
dents of the localities either because they were suspected to be police
informants or because thev failed to accede to the demands of money, that
he had committed robberies in the particular localities, and that witnesses
were not willing to come forward to depose against him in public. The
appellant offered his explanation and examined his witnesses to refute the
allegations.
On a consideration of the explanation and the evidence
tendered by the appellant an order was passed externing him from the
limits of Greater Bombay and the District of Thana for a period of two
ye~rs. :rhe order wa.s confirmed in appeal by the State government. A
~nt petition to the High Court was dismissed. In the appeal to this Court
ti was contended ( i) the allegations that witnesses were not willing to
come forward to depose against the appellant in public was falsified by
!he very r.eco~d of _the present proceedings; (ii) the particulars contained
10 the notice tSsued under s. 59 of the Act were so vattue that the appel·
!ant i;:ould not possibly meet the allegations made against him and thus
he was denied reasonable opportunity to defend himself; (iii) the externing authority had the duty to pass 111 reasoned order or else the right of
appeal would become illusory; and the State Government also ought to
ha_ve given reasons in support of the order dismissing the appeal and its
failure to do so showed non-application of mind; and (iv) the order of
64
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1973] 3 S.C.R.
externment imposed unreasonable restrictions on the personal liberty of
the appellant in that, whereas his activities were· alleged to be restricted
to an area. within the jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station, the order
of externment not only extended to the whole district of Greater Bombay
but to the district of Thana also.
Dismissing the appeal,
HELD : (I) In order to attract the operation of section 56 of the
Act the officer concerned has to satisfy himself that witnesses are not
willing to com

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63
PANDHARINATH SHRIDHAR RANGNEKAR
v.
DY. COMMR. OF POLICE, THE ST ATE OF MAHARASHTRA
December 11, 1972
(H. R. KHANNA AND Y. V. CHANDRACHUD, JJ.]
Bombay Police Act (22 of 1951)-Ss. 56, 59-Externment Or,lerDuty to infonn "the general nature of the material allegations"-Full dis~
closure of particulars if necessary--!/ the externing authority and the State
government should give reasoned order-Order of extern.ment if shou!d be
restricted to area chosen for unla•~'ful activities.
Section 56 of the Bombay Police Act provides that whenever it shall
appear, in Greater Bomb&y, to the Commissioner (a) that the movements
or acts of any person are causing or are calculateJ to c&:.ise alarm, danger
or harm to person or property or (b) that there >re reooonable grounds
for believing that such person is engaged or is about to be engaged in the
commission of offence involving force or violence or an offence pun_ishable
under Chapter 22, 16 and 17 of the Indian Penal Code, and when in the
opinion of such officer witnesses are not willing to come fon\·ard tv give
evidence in public against such person by reason of apprehension o:i their
part as regards safety of their person or property, the said officer may
by order in writing direct such person to remove himself outside the area
within the local limits of his jurisdiction or such area and any district or
districts, or any pa.rt thereof contiguous thereto, within such time as the
said officer may prescribe and not to enter or return to the said are::. from
which be was directed to remove himself.
Section 59(1) requires that
before an order under s. 56 is passed against any person the officer shall
inform that person in writing "of the general nature of the material allegations against him'' and give him a reasonable opportunity of tendering an
explanation regarding those allegations.
The appellant was served with ., notice under s. 56 of the Act. The
allegations were that the appellant's acts and movements were causing
alarm and danger to the residents of certain localities within the jurisdic·
tion of Vile Parle Police Station, that he was given to assaulting the resi·
dents of the localities either because they were suspected to be police
informants or because thev failed to accede to the demands of money, that
he had committed robberies in the particular localities, and that witnesses
were not willing to come forward to depose against him in public. The
appellant offered his explanation and examined his witnesses to refute the
allegations.
On a consideration of the explanation and the evidence
tendered by the appellant an order was passed externing him from the
limits of Greater Bombay and the District of Thana for a period of two
ye~rs. :rhe order wa.s confirmed in appeal by the State government. A
~nt petition to the High Court was dismissed. In the appeal to this Court
ti was contended ( i) the allegations that witnesses were not willing to
come forward to depose against the appellant in public was falsified by
!he very r.eco~d of _the present proceedings; (ii) the particulars contained
10 the notice tSsued under s. 59 of the Act were so vattue that the appel·
!ant i;:ould not possibly meet the allegations made against him and thus
he was denied reasonable opportunity to defend himself; (iii) the externing authority had the duty to pass 111 reasoned order or else the right of
appeal would become illusory; and the State Government also ought to
ha_ve given reasons in support of the order dismissing the appeal and its
failure to do so showed non-application of mind; and (iv) the order of
64
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1973] 3 S.C.R.
externment imposed unreasonable restrictions on the personal liberty of
the appellant in that, whereas his activities were· alleged to be restricted
to an area. within the jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station, the order
of externment not only extended to the whole district of Greater Bombay
but to the district of Thana also.
Dismissing the appeal,
HELD : (I) In order to attract the operation of section 56 of the
Act the officer concerned has to satisfy himself that witnesses are not
willing to come forward to give evidence in public. But it is not neces ..
sary that all the witnesses must be found unwilling to give e\idence. The
circum5tance, therefore, that in two criminal cases certain witnesses came
forward to depose against the appellant cannot falsify the assertion that
witnesses were unwilling to give evidence against the appellant to public.
[68C]
Dlwgubhai Dul/abhabhai Bhandari v. The District Magistrate, Thana
& Ors. [1956] S.C.R. 533, referred to.
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(2) The relevant provisions of the Act show that the reasons which
necessitate or justi1fy the passing of an extemm.ent order arise out of extraordinary circumstances. An order of extemment can be passed under
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clause (a) or (b) or selection 56 if, and only if, the authority concerned
is satisfied that witnesses are unwilling to come forward to give evidence
in public against the proposed extemee by reason of apprehension on
their part 2.6 regards the safety of their person or property. A full and
complete disclosure of particulars such as is requisite in an open proseci.ttion will frustrate the very purpose of externment proceedings. There is
a brand of lawless element in society which it is impossible to bring to
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book by established methods of judicial trial, because, in such trials, there
can be no conviction without legal evidence. And, legal evidence is impossible to obtain because out of fear of reprisals witnesses are unwilling
to depose in public. That explains why section 59 of the Act imposes but
a 1imited obligation on the authorities to inform the proposed extemee "of
the general nature of the material allegations against him". That obliga·
tion fixes the limits of the correlative right of the proposed extemee. He
is entitled before an order of externment is passed under s. 56 to know
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the material allegations against him and the general nature of those allegations.
He is not entitled to be infor.'tled of ipecific particulars relating
to the material aHegations. Though the provisions of s. 56 make a serious
inroad on personal liberty, such restraints have to be·suffered in the larger
interests of society.
However, care must be taken to ensure that the
terms of sections 56 and 59 are strictly complied with and that the slender
safeguards which those provisions offer are made available to the pro·
posed extemee.
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Gurbachan Singh v. The State of Bpmbay and another, (19521 S.C.R.
737; Bhagubhai Du/labhabhai Bhandari v. The District Magistrate 1'hana
& others (1956] S.C.R. 533; Hari Khemu Gawali v .. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bombay and Another (1956] S.C.R. 506 and State of
Gujarat and Anr. v. Mehboob Khan Usman Khan etc. (1968] 3 S.C.R.
7 46, referred to.
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View of the Bombay High Court in Criminal application No. 332 of
1971 in judgment dated April 29, 1971 disapproved.
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(3) Precisely for the reason for which the proposed externee is -only
entitled to be informed of the general nature of the material alleptions,
neither the externing authority nor the State government in appeal can
be asked to write a reasoned order in the nature of a judgment. If
those authorities were to discuss the evidence
in the case it would be
easy to fix the identity of the witnesses who were unwilling to depose in
public agafost the proposed extemee. [72H]
( 4) It is primarily for the externing authority to decide how best
the externment order can be made effective so as to subserve its real
purpose. An excessive order can undoubtedly be struck down because no
greater restraint on personal liberty can be premitted than is reasonable
in the circumstances of the case. An order of externment restricted to
the particular area chosen by tbe externee for his unlawful activities and
to a small periphery thereof may in certain circumstances fail of its true
purpose. A larger area may conceivably have to be comprised within the
externment order so as to isolate the externee from his moorings. [73 B, DJ
Balu Shivling Dombe v. The Divisional Magistrate, Pandharpur s. 71
Bombay Law Reporter, 79, held inapplicable.
The High Court of Bombay has, on similar facts, consistently repelled challenges made to externment orders on the ground that they
extended not only to the district of Greater Bombay but also to the
District of Thana. In matters of such local colour and conditions, the
view so consistently expressed by the learned judges of the Hip Court
·must be accepted as correct. [75C]
Criminal Applicotion No. 1427 of 1968, judgment dated March 17,
1968; Criminal Application 30 to 93 of 1970 judgment dated February
23, 1970, 73 Bombay L.R. 442; Criminal Application No. 149 of 1972
decided on March 3, -1972, referred to.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
14 of 1972.
Appeal by special leave trom the judgment and order dated
August 11, 1971 of the Bombay High Court in Cr!. Application
No. 618 of 1971.
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S. B. Wad, for the appellant.
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M. C. Bhandare and B. D. Sharma, for the respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
CHANDRACHUD, J. This appeal by special leave is directed
against the judgment dated August 11, 1971 of the High Court
at Bombay, dismissing the petition filed by the appellant under
Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution to challenge an order
of externment passed by the 1st respondent.
On October 9, 1969 a notice of even date was served on the
appellant under section 59 of the Bombay Police Act
22 of
1951, asking .him to appear before the Assistant C~ioner
of P~lice, .M' Division:
Bomb~y, in answer to allegations
contamed m the notice.
Bnefly, the·
allegations
were
that the appellant's acts and movements were causing
hann,
~L631Sup.Cl/73
66
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
alarm and danger to the residents of certain localities within the
jurisdiction of Vile Parle Police Station, that he was given
to
assaulting the residents of those localities either because
they
were suspected to be police infonnants or because they failed
to accede to the demands of money, that he had
conuuitted
robberies in the particular localities, that since March 1969 he
had committed several acts of the above description and that witnesses were not willing to come forward to depose against him
in public. The appellant appeared before the Assistant Commissioner of Police, offered his explanation and examined 16 witnesses to refute the allegations. He contended that the allegations
were vague and general, that they were made at too instance of
one Damayanti Deshpande who was inimical to him, that he was
a social worker of some standing, that he was a member of the
Congress Party and that in two criminal cases which were filed
against him he was acquitted in spite of the evidence led by the
prosecution.
Later, the appellant was heard by · Shri G. K.
Nadkarni,
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-IV, Greater Bombay.
On
a consideration of the explanation and the evidence tendered by
the appellant, the Dy. Commissioner passed an order dated July
23, 1970 under section 59 of the Act, externing him from the
limits of Greater Bombay and the District of Thana, for a period
of two years. The order of externment was directed to take effect
within two days of the decision of two criminal cases which were
then pending against the app~llant and in case he was sentenced
in <the aforesaid cases to a term of imprisonment, the order was
to take effect within two days from lhe date of his release from
jail. Against that order, the appellant filed an appeal under
section 60 of !he Act, to the 2nd respondent, the Government of
Maharashtra, but that appeal was dismissed on May 20, 1971,
have with the modification that the externment was to be effective
from May 31, 1971.
The appellant then filed a petition in the Bombay High Court
under Articles 226 and 227 of the Collstitutian to chal!lenge the
order of externment. Two conteptions were made in the High
Court on behalf of the appellant : one, that the allegations
contaill'.!d in the show-cause notice were too vague to afford
him a reasonable opportunity to defend himself and
two, that
his activities were at best confined to specific localities within the
jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station and therefore the
order asking him to remove himself from
the limits of the
Districts of Greater Bombay and Thana was excessiw and unreasonable.
On the first ccintention, reliance was placed by the
appellant on the judgment dated April 29, 1971 of a Division
bench of the Bombay High Court in Criminal Application No.
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P. s. RANGNEKAR v. DY. COMMR. POLICE (Chandrachud, J.) 67
332 of 1971, in which a similar notice was stuck down on the
ground of vagueness.
The learned Judges declined to follow
that judgment as, in their opinion, it was inconsistent with the
view taken by this Court in State of Gujarat and Anr. v. Mehboob
Khan Usman Khan etc.('). On the second contention, distinguishing the judgment of a Division Bench of the High Court
in Balu Shivling Dombe v. The Divisional Magistrate, Pandharpur (71 Bombay Law Reported 79) and following a judgment
dated March 17, 1968 of another Divisiort Bench in Criminal
Application No. 1427 of 1966, the learned Judges held that in
the circumstances of the case it was reasonable to extern the
appellant from the limits of Greater Bombay as also of the Thana
District. The correctness of this view is under challenge before
us.
Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
appdlant has
raised the following points :-
( i) The allegation that witnesses .were not willing
to come forward to depose against the appellant in public is falsified by the very record of
tbe
pre~ent proceedings.
(ii) Tho~ particulars contained in the notice issued
under section 59 of the Act are so vague that
the
appellant
could not possibly meet the
allegations made against him and thus· he was
denied
reasonable . opportunity
to
defend
himself.
(iii) The externing authority must pass a reasoned
order or else the right of appeal would become
illusory.
(iv) The State Government also ought to have giwn
reasons in support of 'the order · dismissing the
appeal.
Its failure to state reasons show nonapplication of mind, and
( v) The order of extemment imposes unreasonable
restrictions on the
personal
liberty of the
appellant in that, whereas his activities are
alleged to be restricted to an area within the
jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station,
the order of externment not only extends to th·~
whole District of Greater Bombay but to the
District of Thana also.
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Regarding ithe first point, it is urged that in Criminal Cases
No. 2106/P of 1969 and 2337/P of 1969 which
were
filed
(I) [!968] 3 S.CR. 746 ..
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
against the appellant in the court of the
learned Presidency
Magistrate, 22nd Court, Andheri, Bombay, five witnesses were
examined by the presscution in each case thereby falsifying the
assertion that witnesses were not willing to
come forward to
depose against the appellant in public.
We cannot accept this
contention,
No connection is shown to exist between the two
particular criminal cases and the incidents referred to in the
externment order. Counsel attempted to establish that connection
by saying that Damayanti Deshpande who was inimical to the
appellant was the motive force behind the prosecution as well
as the externment proceedings. But the affidavit of the Deputy
Commissioner has specifically denied that allegation.
Besides,
as held by this Court in Bhagubhai Dul/abhabhai Bhandari v.
The District Magistrate, Thana & Ors.( 1), though, in order to
attract the operation of section 56 of the Act, the officer concernA
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ed has to satisfy himself that witnesses are not willing to come
forward to give evidence in public, it is not necessary that all the
witnesses must be found thus unwilling to give evidence.
The
circumstance therefore that in the two criminal cases certain
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witnesses came forward to depose against the appellant in public
cannot falsify the assertion that witnesses were unwilling to give
evidence against the appellant in public.
On the second point, it is necessary to call attention to the
notice issued to the appellant, which was in these terms :
"NOTICE UNDER SECTION 59 OF THE BOMBAY
POLICE ACT, 1961
Name, address and age : Shri Pandharinath Shridhar
Rangnekar, Hindu, 28 years, Res.
Rama Niwas, Nariman Road, Vile
Parle (East), Bombay-57.
Under Section 59 of the Bombay Police Act, 1951
(Born. XXII of 1951) you are hereby informed that
the following allegations are made against you in proceedings against you under section 56 of the said Act.
In order to give you opportunity of tendering your
explanation regarding the said
allegations,
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have
appointed 9 A.M. on 16-10-1969 to receive your explanation and to hear you and your witness, if any, in
regard to the said allegations I Shri N. S. Joshi, Assistant Commissioner of Police 'M' Division,
Bombay
therefore require you to appear before me at Vile Parle
Police Station on the said date viz.
16-10-1969 at
9 A.M. for the said purpose and to pass a bond in the
(I) [1956]
S.C.R. 533.
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P. s. RANGNEKAR v. DY. COMMR. POLICE (Chandrachud, J.) 69
sum of Rs. 500 / • for your attendance during the enquiry of the said proceedin£s.
Should you fail to
appear before me and to pass the bond as directed
above, I shall proceed with the enquiry in your absence.
Take note.
Allegations :-
1. Since March 1969 in the localities of Nehru
Road, Azad Road, Monghibai Road, Mahatma Gandhi
Road, Ram Mandir Road and the areas adjoining thereto in the jurisdiction of Vile Parle Police Station,
Greater Bombay your acts and movements are causing
harm, alarm and danger to the residents of the aforesaid localities and areas.
2. That you assault the residents of the aforesaid
localities and areas either suspecting them of
giving
information to the police about your illegal activities
or because they fail accede to your demand of money ·
which offences are punishable under chapter XVI of
the Indian Penal Code.
3. That you commit robberies by extorting money
"and arucles from the residents of the aforesaid localities and areas by means of assault and/ or under threats
of assault which are offences punishable under chapter
XVII of the Indian Penal Code.
4. That.since March, 1969, you have committed
several. acts of the matter described in paras 1, 2 and 3
above.
5. That the witnesses to your above described acts
and movements are not willing to come forward and depose against you in public by reason of apprehension on
their part as regards the safety of their persons in that
they apprehend danger to the safety of their person or
property, if they do so.
Sd/- 9-10-1969
N. S. Joshi,
Assistant Commissioner of Police
'N' Division, Bandra, Bombay."
Section 56 of the Act provides, to the extent material, that
wheneVl!r it shall appear in Greater Bombay to the Commissioner
(a) that the movements or acts of any person are causing or are
calculated to cause alarm, danger or harm to person or property,
or (b) that there are reasonable grounds for believing that such
person is engaged or is about to be engaged in the commission
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
of an offence involving force or violence or an offence punishable
under Chapter XII, XVI or XVII of the Indian Penal Code, and
when in the opinion of such officer witnesses are not willing to
come forward to give evidence in public against such person by
reason of apJ1rehension on their part as regards the safety of their
person or property, the said officer may by order in writing direct
such person 'to remove himself outside the area within the local
limits of his jurisdiction or such area and any district or districts,
or any part thereof contiguous thereto, within such time as the
said officer may prescribe and not to enter or return to the said
area from which be was directed to remove himself.
Under section 58, an order of externment passed under section 56 can in
no case exceed a period of two years from the date on which it
was made.
The relevant part of section 59 ( 1) provides that
before an order under section 5 6 is passed against any
person.
the officer shall inform that person in writing "of the general
nature of the material allegations againS't him" and give him a
reasonable opportunity of tenderin)( an explanation
regarding
those allegations.
The proposed externee is entitled to lead evidence unless the authority takes the view that. the application for
examination of witnesses is made for the purpose of vexation or
delay.
Section 59 also confers on the person concerned a right
to file a written statement and to appear through an advocate or
attorney.
These provisions show that the reasons which necessitate or
justify the passing of an externment order arise out of extra-
. ordinary circumstances.
An order of externment can be passed
under clause (a) or (b) of section 56 if, and only if, the authority concerned is satisfied that witnesses are unwilling to come
forward to give evidence in public against th•3 proposed externee
by reason of apprehension on their part as regards the safety of
their person or property.
A full and complete disclosure of particulars such as is requisite in an op.~n prosecution will frustrate
the very purpose of an externment proceeding. If
the showcause notice were to furnish to the proposed externee concrete
data like specific dates of incidents or the names of persons
involved in these incidents, it would be easy enough to fix the
identity of thpse who out of fear of injury to their person or property are unwilling to depose in public. There is a brand of
lawless element in society which it is impossible to bring to book
by established methods of judicial trial because in such trials
there can be no conviction without legal evidence.
And bgal
evidence is impossible to obtain, because out of fear of reprisals
witnesses are unwilling to depose in public,
That explains why
section 59 of the Act imposes but a limited obligation on the
authorities to inform the proposed extemee "of the gerteral nature
of the material allegations against him".
That obligation fixes
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the limits of the co-relative right of the proposed extemee.
He
is entitled, before an order of externment is passed under section
56, to know the material allegations against him and. the general
nature of th<>se allegations. He is not entitled to be infonned of
specific particulars relating to the material alleg8!1ions.
It is true that the provisions of section 56 make a serious
inroad on personal liberty but such restriants have to be suffere<l
in the larger interests of society. This Court in Gurbachan Singh
v. The State of Bombay and Another(') had upheld the validity
of section 27 ( 1) of the City of Bombay Policy Act, 1902, which
corresponds to section 38. of the Act.
Followin)!; that decision,
the challenge to the constitutionality of section 5 6 was repelled
in Bhagubhai Dullabhabhai Bhandari v. The District Magistrate,
Thana & Others('). We will only add that care must be taken
to ensure that the terms of sections 56 and 59 are strictly i:omplied with and that the slender safeguards which those provisions
offer are made available to the proposed externee.
i•n Hari Khemu Gawa/i v.
The Deputy Commissioner of
Police, Bombay and Another(•), in which an order of externment
was passed under section 57 of the Act. it was held by this Court
on an examination of the general scheme of the Act that the provisions of sections 55, 56, 57 and 59 cannot be held to be invalid
on the 11:rounds that only tire general nature of the material allegations is requ.ired to be disclosed to the externee, and that it
would be difficult for him to get the matter judicially examined.
Sinha J .. speaking for the majority, observed :
"Tne grounds available to an externee had necessarily to be very limited in their scope because if evidence were available which could be adduced in public,
such a pe.rson could be dealt with under the preventive
sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for example, under section 107 or section 110. But the special
provisions now under examination proceed on the basis
Jhat the person dealt with under any of the sections 55,
56 ~r 57 is of such a character as not to permit the
ordinary laws of the land being put in motion in the
ordinary way, nanrely, of examining witnesses in open
c"urt wh" should be cross-e.itamined by the party
agamst whom they were deposing.' The provisions we
Me now examinin1t are plainlv intended to be used in
soecial cases requirin11: special treatment that is cases
wbich cannot be dealt with under the p~eve.,ntiv~ sections of the Code of Criminal Procedu~."
(1) [19S2) S.C.R. 737.
(3) [19S6]
S.C.R. S-06.
(2) [19S6] S.C.R. S33.
12
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 s.c.R.
In State of Gujarat and Anr. etc. v. Mehboob Khan Usman
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Khan etc. (1) this Court, reversing the judgment of the High Court
of Gujarat, rejected the argument that a notice substantially similar to the one in the instant case was bad for vagueness. lt was
held that the person proposed to be exte~ was entitled to be
informed of the general nature of the material allegations and
not to the particulars of those allegations.
As to the meaning of B
the phrase "general nature of the material allegations", it was
observed:
"Without attempting to be exhaustive we may state
that when a person is stated to be a 'thief', that allegation is vague.
Again, when it is said that 'A' stole a
watch from X on a particular day and at a particular
place', the allegation can be said to be particular. Again,
when it is stated that' X is seen at crowded bus stands
and he picks pockets' it is of a general nature of a material allegation.
Under the last illustration, given
above, will <;ome the allegations, which, according to
the Gujarat High Court, suffer from being too general,
or vague.
Considering it from the point of view of
the party against whom an order of externment is proposed to be passed, it must be emphasised that when he
has to tender an explanation to a notice, under s. 59,
he can only give an explanation, which can be of a
general nature.
It may be open to him to take a
defence, of the action being taken, due to mala fides,
malice or mistaken identity, or he may be ab'le to tender proof of his general good conduct, or alibi, during
the period covered by the notice and the like."
We must therefore reject the argument that the particulars
contained in the notice are vague.
We endorse the view of the
High Court that Criminal Application No. 332 of 1971 in which
judgment was delivered on April 29, 1971 by another Division
Bench of that court was not correctly decided, to the extent to
which the notice therein was held to be vague.
The view taken
in that case is inconsistent with the view expressed by this Court
in M eh boob Khan's case.
The third and fourth point have the same answer as tile second
point iust dealt with by us.
Precisely for tile reasons for which
the proposed extemee is only entitled to oo informed of the general nature of the material allegations, neither tile exteming authority nor the State Government in appeal can be asked to write
a reasoned order in the nature of a judgment. If those authorities were to discuss the evidence in the case, it would be easy to
fix the identity of witnesses who were unwilling to depose in
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public against the proposed extemee.
A reasoned order containing a discussion of the evidence Jed against the externee would
probably spark off another round of tyranny and harassment.
As regards the last point, it is primarily for the externing
authority to decide how best the extemment order can be made
effective, so as to subserve its real purpose. Now Jong, withiil
the statutory limit of 2 years fixed by section 58, the order shall
oper~e and to what territories, within the statutory limitations. of
section 56 it should extend, are matters which must depend for
their decision on the nature of tlie data which the authority is able
to collect in the externment proceedings.
There are cases and
cases and therefore no general formulation can be made that the
order of extemment must always be restricted to the area to which
the illegal activities of the externee extend.
A larger area may
conceivably have to be comprised within the externment order
so as to isolate the externee from his moorings.
An excessive order can undoubtedly be struck down because
no greater restraint on personal liberty can be permitted that is
reasonable in the circumstances of the case.
The decision of the
Bombay High Court in Balu Shivling Dombe v. The Divisional
Magistrate, Pandharpur (71 Bombay Law Reporter 79) is an
instance in point where an externrnent order was set aside on the
ground that it was far wider than was justified by the exigencies
~f the case.
The activities of the extemee therein were confined
to the city of Pandharpur and yet the externment order covered
an area as extensive as the districts of Sholapur, Satara and
Poona. These areas are far widely removed from the locality in
which the extemee had committed but two supposedly illegal
acts. The exercise of the power was therefore arbitrary and
excessive, the order having been passed wiithout reference to the
purpose of the externment.
But Balu Shivling's case furnishes no analogy in the instant
matter.
A vast city liki~ Bombay presents its own peculiar problems of Jaw and order. It has an ever-growilll! industrial complex and ·the city has spread its areas far and wide.
A fair proportion of its teeming population is mobile, with large multitudes
streaming in and out of the city in the oursuit of their daily avoca·
tions.
An order of externmen t restricted to the particular area
chosen bv the extemee for his unlawful activities and to a small
periphery thereof would in such circumstances fail of its
true
purpose. It would be imoossible to secure obedience to such an
order and its enforcement would raise practical problems which
would imoair the efficacy of the order.
An order in the instant
case if restricted, sav. to the areas within the iurisdiction of the
Vile Parle nolice station and its perinhery would not serve its
puroose.
Rather than solving a problem of Jaw and order, it
would create vet one more.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1973] 3 S.C.R.
That is why, on similnr facts, the Bombay HiAA Court has
consistently repelled challenges made to externment orders on the
ground that they extended not only to the district of Greater
Bombay but to the district of Thana as well.
In Criminal Application No. 1427 of 1968 a Division Bench (Kotval C. J.
and
Kamat J.) observed in their iudgment of March 17, 1968 :-
"In the present case the area of activity of the
externee was uridoubtedly stated to be Santacruz, but
Santacruz is a fairly wide area.
Moreover, it is very
intimately connected with the surrounding area of Thana
district.
It is common knowledge that Thana town in
the surroundin)!'. area is also an area where large industries have )!'.rown contiguous wi'lh the industrial area of
Greater Bombay and that .the entire industrial area is
connected together by several means of communication
including suburban trains of which there are several
during each day, by taxis plyinll to and from Greater
Bombay and by bus services operating between Greater
Bombay and several parts of Thana District. Therefore,
the Police could reasonably have thought that it would
not be sufficient to ask the petitioner to keep off only
from the area of Greater Bombay which has an equally
busy and highly industrialised area contiguous to it.
Therefore, the order was extended to Thana District."
A similar view taken by Palekar and Gatne JJ. in Criminal
Applications 30 and 93 of 1970 decided on February 23, 1970; by
Tulzapurkar J. in 73 Bombay Law Reporter 442 iit pp. 453-454
and by Bhasme and Kania JJ. in Criminal Application No. 149
of 1972 decided on March 3, 1972.
As against the judgment
last mentioned the ·~xternee had filed special leave petition No.
487 of 1972 in this Court, one of the grounds stated therein being
that the externment order was void because the externee was asked to remove himself not only out of the district of Greater Bombay but from the limits of Thana district as w:!ll.
The petition
was dismissed by this Court ( Palekar and Dwivedi JJ.) on September 20, 1972.
These judgments of the Bombay High Court have taken tr.~
view that the cjistricts of Greater Bombay and Thana form, so to
say, a sin.gie unit.
Palekar J. observes in his judgment in Criminal Applications Nos. 30 and 93 of 1970 : "It may be that the
area of operation may be in a particular locality, but if the externment is limited only to that area, then it might be impossible to
prevent the externee from visiting that area every day.
Any part
in Bombay is easily connected by transport with any other part of
Greater Bombay and also the Thana District, and if, for example,
an externee is externed outside the limits of Greater Bombay,
then he should not take more than 15 minutes to reach Kurla
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from a place like Thana if the latter is excluded from externment.
The very object of externment is to make it as difficult as possible
to the externee to return to the field of his activities.'' Tulzapurkar J. expressed the same view by saying that "the contiguous
area of Thal)a district is intimately conectr.:d with the industrial
area of Greater Bombay with cheaper and quicker means of
transport and communication." According to Bhasme J. who
delivered the judgment of the Bench in Criminal Application No.
149 of 1972, "By reason of the means of communication and
proximity, the districts of Greater Bombay and Thana are for all
practical purposes one local area or one district." Deshmukh J.
in the judl(ment under appeal, says that "Greater Bombay and
Thana districts are . . . intimately connected by several communications". In matters of local colour and conditions the view
so consistentlv expressed by the learned Judges of the High
Court mu~t. in our opinion, be accepted as correct.
In the result the appeal fails and is dismissed.
K.B.N.
Appeal dismissed.