SUDHIR KUMAR SAHA v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, CALCUTTA & ANR.
Citation: [1970] 3 S.C.R. 360; 1969 INSC 343
Court: Supreme Court of India
Bench: J.C. SHAH , K.S. HEGDE
Judgment date:
Case summary
1969 INSC 343. Supreme Court of India judgment dated 1969-12-18. SUDHIR KUMAR SAHA v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, CALCUTTA & ANR. Read the judgment and case...
Judgment text
362 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1970] 3 S. C. R. SUDHIR KUMAR . SAHA v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, CALCU1TA & ANR. December 18, 1969 [J. C. SHAH AND K. S. IIEGDB, JJ. ] Preventive Detention Act (4 of 1950), s. 3(2)-Acts prejudicial to maintenance of public order-What are. The petitioner along with others, committed various offences on three occasions. On the first occasion be attacked the people of a locality with a knife and by hurling 'bottles at them. On the other two occasions he attacked the pe ' conception of maintenance 'public order'. The latter is the pre- ) vention of a disorder of grave nature. Every act that affects "law and order" need not affect 'public order'. · If it is other-wise every one who dist. urbs "law and order", however petty the offence committed by him may be, can be detained under the 1- Prevention Detention Act. This would be a total repudiation of of the rule of law and an affront to ow Constitution.
The legal position relating to the point in issue was again recently consider- ,... ed by this Court m Arun Ghosh v. State of . West Bengal('). Therein it was observed that 'public order' is the even tempo of the life of the community taking the country as a whol11 or even a specified locality. Disturbance of "public order" is to be dis-tinguished from acts directed against individuals which do not dis. turb fhe society to the extent of causing a general disturbance of public tranquillity. It is the degree of disturbance and its effect upon the life of the community in a locality which deter-mines whether the disturbance amounts only to a breach of "law and order". We are of the opinion that the grounds stated in support of the detention cannot amount to a disturbance of the maintenance of 'public order'. V. P. S. (1) [1966] l S. C. R. 709. (2) [1970] 3 S. C. R. 288.
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