Furnishing legible copy on grounds of detention must: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said legible copies of the documents relied upon by the authority for detention has to be made available to the detenu otherwise it would affect his fundamental right to make effective representation.

"The right to make representation being a fundamental right under Article 22(5) of the Constitution in order to make effective representation, the detenu is always entitled to be supplied with the legible copies of the documents relied upon by the detaining authority and such information made in the grounds of detention enables him to make an effective representation," a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar said.

The top court rejected a plea by the Manipur government against the High Court's order which set aside the detention order passed against Buyamayum Abdul Hanan alias Anand under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.

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The High Court had allowed Anand's plea on the ground that the state authorities failed to supply the legible copies regarding the grounds of detention.

The state government contended that the man had failed to raise such a plea before authorities.

The, however, said, "We find no substance that merely because the man has failed to raise this question before the detaining authority which go into root of the matter to take away the right vested in the detenu in assailing the order of detention while availing the remedy available to him under Article 226 of the Constitution."

"The right of personal liberty and individual freedom which is probably the most cherished is not, in any manner, arbitrarily to be taken away from him even temporarily without following the procedure prescribed by law," the bench added.