Orders of externment cannot be passed repeatedly by relying upon same material: Bombay High Court
High Court has further held that passing repeated orders of externment based on same material is also violative of Article 19.
;Powers of externment cannot be used repeatedly by relying upon the same material, the Bombay High Court has recently held.
"The externee cannot be subjected to rigors of externment by relying upon the same cases. It is violative of Article 19 of the Constitution of India....", a single judge bench of Justice Prakash D Naik has held.
The High Court made these observations while allowing a challenge to the orders of externment passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone – I, Nashik City, Dist. Nashik under Section 56(1)(a)(b) of Maharashtra Police Act and the order of Appellate Authority dismissing the Appeal preferred by externee challenging the impugned order of externment under Section 60 of the Maharashtra Police Act.
Court noted that while issuing the impugned order of externment, the externing authority had relied upon the cases which were also subject matter of previous orders of externment.
"It is pertinent to note that, all the orders were issued by the same authority. The powers of externment are exercised in most arbitrary manner.... ", the Court said while holding that the freedom of petitioner before it was restricted by exercising the powers of externment in most causal manner.
Court further found that reference of the cases which were referred in the previous order of externment also indicated that the externing authority was relying on the stale cases to initiate externment proceedings.
"The Petitioner therein could not have been externed on the basis of material, which is already taken into consideration on the earlier occasion and found to be insufficient...", thus held the single judge bench while setting aside the impugned order.
Case Title: Kiran Dattatraya Shedke vs. The State Of Maharashtra And Ors