Vijay Pal Dalmia, Advocate & Partner Vaish Associates Advocates
Email: vpdalmia@vaishlaw.com   Mobile: 09810081079

The Supreme Court of India in Prakash Chandra Mehta vs. Commissioner and Secretary, Govt. of Kerala & Ors.  AIR 1986 SC 687, examined the term ground concerning Article 22(5) of the Constitution and Section 5A of the Act and observed as under:

When the detention order has been made on two or more grounds, such order of detention shall be deemed to have been made separately on each of such grounds and accordingly that if one irrelevant or one inadmissible ground had been taken into consideration that would not make the detention order bad.

Article 22(5) of the Constitution has two elements: (i) communication of the grounds on which the order of detention has been made; (ii) opportunity of making a representation against the order of detention. Communication of the grounds pre-supposes the formulation of the grounds and formulation of the grounds requires and ensures the application of the mind of the detaining authority to the facts and materials before it, that is to say, to pertinent and proximate matters regarding each case and excludes the elements of arbitrariness and automatism.

The ground of detention is the satisfaction of the detaining authority that with a view to preventing the detenu from acting in any manner prejudicial to the conservation or augmentation of foreign exchange or with a view to preventing the detenu from, inter alia, dealing in smuggled goods otherwise than by engaging in transporting or concealing or keeping the smuggled goods, or engaging in transporting or concealing or keeping smuggled goods  the detention of the detenu is necessary. This satisfaction can be arrived at as inferences from several factors.

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