Justices M Sundar and M Nirmal Kumar observed the reason given by the police was not acceptable; proper intimation had to be given to the detenu and he must know the reason for the arrest.

A division bench of Madras High Court has revoked the detention of a man under the Goondas Act as the police failed to furnish the arrest intimation in a proper manner, resulting in depravation of his right to make an effective representation against detention.

Harini, the wife of detenu, Ezhilkumar, sought the court to revoke the detention on the ground that the arrest intimation was furnished through an SMS message without authentication and said due to lack of proper intimation, they were unable to make representation against the detention.

Ordering revocation of the Goondas Act slapped on the man, a bench of Justices M Sundar and M Nirmal Kumar observed the reason given by the police was not acceptable; proper intimation had to be given to the detenu and he must know the reason for the arrest.

“Further, the right of the detenu to make an effective representation qua the preventive detention order is a constitutional safeguard ingrained in Clause (5) of Article 22 of the Constitution,” the bench said.
Ezhilkumar was arrested by the Sholavaram police in 2022 on various charges including rioting and criminal intimidation, and was later detained under the Goondas on November 30, 2022. Instead of furnishing proper arrest intimation, the police sent an SMS to his wife’s mobile number.