Karnataka HC quashes detention under Goonda Act for not following guidelines
Bengaluru, Dec 16: The High Court of Karnataka has quashed the detention order of a person under the Goonda Act after finding that the detention order did not follow the necessary rules.
Though the police authorities had followed the timeline in issuing the confirmation order to the detention order, they did not follow the timeline prescribed for placing the detention order before the Advisory Board.
"We find lacking in compliance of Section 10 of the Goonda Act, as the same (detention order) was not placed before the Advisory Board within three weeks of passing the detention order dated April 27, 2023. As can be seen from the records submitted by learned Government Pleader, as against the detention order dated April 27, 2023, the file was placed before the Advisory Board on June, 1, 2023 at 5 pm. which is evidently after the lapse of 35 calendar days," the division bench of Justice K Somashekar and Justice Rajesh Rai K said in a recent judgement.
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The bench was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by one Mohammad Shafiulla, from Kolar, who sought the release of his son Roshan Jameer detained under the Goonda Act (Karnataka Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug-Offenders, Gamblers, Goondas, (Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum-Grabbers And Video Or Audio Pirates) Act.
It was alleged that Jameer was involved in multiple criminal cases and an order of detention under the Goonda Act was passed on April 27, 2023. This was communicated to him and he was detained the same day and sent to Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara.
The detention order passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Kolar was confirmed by the Secretary, Home Department on May 6, 2023. The file pertaining to Jameer was forwarded to the Advisory Board on May 8, 2023.
After hearing both sides the Board upheld the detention order on June 2. The Secretary, Home Department extended the period of detention for one year on June 6.
The counsel for Shafiulla (Jameer's father) argued before the HC that as per Section-8 of the Goonda Act, the authorities failed to furnish legible copies of the documents to the detenu. The documents supplied were in English and Kannada and Jameer had studied only till second standard in Urdu medium and was unable to read both Kannada and English.
Accepting this contention, the HC said, "As the student of an Arabic school and who has studied the first language as Arabic or Urdu, cannot possibly be considered as well-educated in the languages other than first language as he has studied only for three years in the said school. Hence, we are constrained to state that, the authorities have failed to comply with the mandates of Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India in its letter and spirit."
The HC also found that the authorities had failed to comply with the mandate of Section 10 of the Goonda Act.
"On examination of case on hand, if viewed with the anomalies in the materials provided, it is glaring on the face of records that the Advisory Board did not have sufficient time to examine the records and hence, thereby the order of detention cannot be considered as one that is passed by the mandates of Goonda Act," the HC said and quashed the orders passed by the police authorities detaining him.
It also directed the jail authorities to release him if he is not needed in any other case.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
