Pandharinath Shridhar Rangnekar Vs.
Dy. Commr. of Police, The State of Maharashtra [1972] INSC 295 (11 December
1972)
CHANDRACHUD, Y.V.
CHANDRACHUD, Y.V.
KHANNA, HANS RAJ
CITATION: 1973 AIR 630 1973 SCC (1) 372
CITATOR INFO :
F 1989 SC1304 (4)
ACT:
Bombay Police Act (22 of 1951)-Ss. 56,
59-Externment OrderDuty to inform "the general nature of the material
allegations"-Full disclosure of particulars if necessary-If the externing
authority and the State government should give reasoned order-order of externment
if should be restricted to area chosen for unlawful activities.
HEADNOTE:
Section 56 of the Bombay Police Act provides
that whenever it shall appear, in Greater Bombay, to the Commissioner (a) that
the movements or acts of any person are causing or are calculated to cause
alarm, danger or-harm to person or property or (b) that there are reasonable
grounds for believing that such person is engaged or is about to be engaged in
the commission of offence involving force or violence or an offence punishable
under Chapter 22, 16 and 17 of the Indian Penal Code, and when in the opinion
of such officer witnesses are not willing to come forward to give evidence in
public against such person by reason of apprehension on their part as regards
safety of their person or property, the said officer may by order in writing
direct such person to remove himself outside the-area districts, or any part
thereof contiguous thereto, within such time as the said officer may prescribe
and not to enter or return to the said area, from which he was directed to
remove himself.
Section 59(1) requires that before an order
under s. 56 is passed against any person the officer shall inform that person
in writing "of the general nature of the material allegations against
him" and give him a reasonable opportunity of tendering an explanation
regarding those allegations.
The appellant was served with a notice under
s. 56 of the Act. The allegations were that the appellant's acts and movements
were causing alarm and danger to the residents of certain localities within the
jurisdiction of Vile Parle Police Station, that he was given to assaulting the
residents of the localities either because they were suspected to be police
informants or because they failed to accede to the demands of money, that he
had committed robberies in the particular localities, and that witnesses were
not willing to come forward to depose against him in public. The appellant
offered his explanation and examined his witnesses to refute the allegations.
On a consideration of the explanation and the evidence tendered by the
appellant an order was passed externing him from the limits of Greater Bombay
and the District of Thana for a period of two years.
The order was confirmed in appeal by the
State government.
A writ petition to the High Court was
dismissed. in the appeal to this Court it was contended (i) the allegations
that witnesses were not willing to come forward to depose against the appellant
in public was falsified by the very record of the present proceedings; (ii) the
particulars contained in the notice issued under s. 59 of the Act were so vague
that the appellant could not possibly meet the allegations made against him and
thus he was denied reasonable opportunity to defend himself; (iii) the externing
authority had the duty to pass a reasoned order or else the right of appeal
would become illusory; and the State Government also ought to have given
reasons in support of the order dismissing the appeal and its failure to do so
showed non-application of mind; and (iv) the order of 64 externment imposed
unreasonable restrictions on the personal liberty of the appellant in that,
whereas his activities were alleged to be restricted to an area within the
jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station, the order of externment not only
extended to the whole district of Greater Bombay but to the district of Thana
also.
Dismissing the appeal,
HELD (1) In order to attract the operation of
section 56 of the Act the officer concerned has to satisfy himself that
witnesses are not willing to come forward to give evidence in public., But it
is not necessary that all the witnesses must be found unwilling to give
evidence. The circumstance, therefore, that in two criminal cases certain
witnesses came forward to depose against the appellant cannot falsify the
assertion that witnesses were unwilling to give evidence against the appellant
to public. [68C] Dhagubhai Dullabhabhai Bhandari v. The District Magistrate,
Thana & Ors. [1956] S.C.R. 533, referred to., (2)The relevant provisions of
the Act show that the reasons which necessitate or justify the passing of an
externment order arise out of extraordinary circumstances.
An order of externment can be passed under
Clause (a) or (b) or selection 56 if, and only if, the authority concerned is
satisfied that witnesses are unwilling to come forward to give evidence in
public against the proposed extend by reason of apprehension on their part as
regards the safety of their person or property. A full and complete disclosure
of particulars such as-is requisite in an open prosecution will frustrate the
very purpose of externment proceedings.
There is a brand of lawless element in
society which it is impossible to bring to book by established methods of
judicial trial, because, in such trials, there can be no conviction without
legal evidence. And, legal evidence is impossible to obtain because out of fear
of reprisals witnesses are unwilling to depose in public. That explains why
section 59 of the Act imposes but a limited obligation on the authorities to
inform the proposed externee "of the general nature of the material
allegations against him".
That obligation fixes the limits of the
correlative right of the proposed externee. He is entitled before an order of
externment is passed under s. 56 to know the material allegations against him
and the general nature of those allegations. He is not entitled to be informed
of specific particulars relating to the material allegations. Though the
provisions of s. 56 make a serious inroad on personal liberty, such restraints
have to be suffered in the larger interests of society. However, care must be
taken to ensure that the terms of sections 56 and 59 are strictly complied with
and that the slender safeguards which those provisions offer are made available
to the proposed externee. [70E] Gurbachan Singh v. The State of Bombay and
another, [1952] S.C.R. 737; Bhagubhai Dullabhabhai Bhdndari v. The District
Magistrate Thana & others [1956] S.C.R. 533; Hari Khemu Gawali v. The
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bombay and Another [1956] S.C.R. 506 and State
of Gujarat and Anr. v. Mehboob Khan Usman Khan etc. [1968] 3 S.C.R.
View of the Bombay High Court in Criminal
application No. 332 of 1971 in judgment dated April 29, 1971 disapproved.
65 (3)Precisely for the reason for which the
proposed externee is only entitled to be informed of the general nature of the
material allegations, neither the externing authority nor the State government
in appeal can be asked to write a reasoned order in the nature of a judgment. If
those authorities were to discuss the evidence in the case it would be easy to
fix the identity of the witnesses who were unwilling to depose in public
against the proposed externee. [72H] (4)It is primarily for the externing
authority to decide how best the externment order can be made effective so as
to subserve its real purpose An excessive order can undoubtedly be struck down
because no greater restraint on personal liberty can be premitted than is
reasonable in the circumstances of the case. An order of externment restricted
to the particular area chosen by the externee for his unlawful activities and
to a small periphery thereof may in certain circumstances fail of its true
purpose. A larger area may conceivably have to be comprised within the externment
order so as to isolate the externee from his moorings. [73 B, D] Balu Shivling
Dombe v. The Divisional Magistrate, Pandharpur s. 71 Bombay Law Reporter, 79,
held inapplicable.
The High Court of Bombay has, on similar
facts, consistently repelled challenges made to externment orders on the ground
that they extended not only to the district of Greater Bombay but also to the
District of Thana. In matters of such local colour and conditions, the view so
consistently expressed by the learned judges of the High Court must be accepted
as correct. [75C] Criminal Application No. 1427 of 1968, judgment dated March
17, 1968; Criminal Application 30 to 93 of 1970 judgment dated February 23,
1970, 73 Bombay L.R. 442; Criminal Application No. 149 of 1972 decided on March
3, 1972, referred to.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal
Appeal No. 14 of 1972.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and
order dated August 11, 1971 of the Bombay High Court in Crl.
Application No. 618 of 1971.
S. B. Wad, for the appellant.
M. C. Bhandare and B. D. Sharma, for the
respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
CHANDRACHUD J. This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment
dated August 11, 1971 of the High Court at Bombay, dismissing the petition
filed by the appellant under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution to
challenge an order of externment passed by the 1st respondent.
On October 9, 1969 a notice of even date was
served on the appellant under section 59 of the Bombay Police Act, 22 of 1951,
asking him to appear before the Assistant Commissioner of Police, 'M' Division,
Bombay, in answer to allegations contained in the notice. Briefly, the allegations
were that the appellant's acts and movements were causing harm, 6L63lSup.CI/73
66 alarm and danger to the residents of certain localities within the,
jurisdiction of Vile Parle Police Station, that he was given to assaulting the
residents of those localities either because, they were suspected to be, police
informants or because they failed to accede to the demands of money, that he
had committed robberies in the particular localities, that since March 1969 he
had committed several acts of the above description and that witnesses were not
willing to come forward to depose against him in public.
The appellant appeared before the Assistant
Commissioner of Police, offered his explanation and examined 16. witnesses to
refute the, allegations. He contended that the allegations were vague and
general, that they were made at the instance of one Damayanti Deshpande who was
inimical to him, that he was a social worker of some standing, that he was, a
member of the Congress Party and that in two criminal cases which were filed
against him he was acquitted in spite of the evidence led by the prosecution.
Later, the appellant was heard by Shri G. K.
Nadkarni, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-IV, Greater Bombay. On a
consideration of the explanation and the evidence tendered by the appellant,
the Dy. Commissioner passed an order dated July 23, 1970 under section 59 of
the Act, externing him from the limits of Greater Bombay and the District of
Thana, for a period of two years. The order of externment was directed to take
effect within two days of the decision of two criminal cases which were then
pending against the appellant and in case he was sentenced in the aforesaid
cases to a term of imprisonment, the order was to take effect within two days
from the date of his release from jail. Against that order, the appellant filed
an appeal under section 60 of the Act, to the 2nd respondent, the Government of
Maharashtra, but that appeal was dismissed on May 20, 1971, have with the
modification that the externment was to be effective from May 31, 1971.
The appellant then filed a petition in the
Bombay High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution to challenge
the order of externment. Two contentions were made in the High Court on behalf
of the appellant : one, that the allegations contained inthe show-cause notice
where, too vague to afford him a reasonable opportunity to defend himself and
two,that his activities were at best confined to specific localities withinthe
jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station and thereforethe order asking him
to remove himself from the limits of the Districts of Greater Bombay and Thana
was excessive and unreasonable. On the first contention, reliance was placed by
the appellant on the judgment dated April 29, 1971 of a Division bench of the
Bombay High Court in Criminal Application No.
67 332 of .1971, in which a similar notice
was stuck down on the ground of vagueness. The learned Judges declined to
follow that judgment as, in their opinion, it was inconsistent with the view
taken by this Court in State of Gujarat and Anr. v. Meliboob Khan Usman Khan
etc.(1). On the second contention, distinguishing the judgment of a Division
Bench of the High Court in Balu Shivling Dombe v. The Divisional Magistrate,
Pandharpur (71 Bombay Law Reported 79) and following a judgment dated March 17,
1968 of another Division Bench in Criminal Application No. 1427 of 1966, the
Iearned Judges held that in the circumstances of the case it was reasonable to
extern the appellant from the Emits of Greater Bombay as also of the Thana
District. The correctness of this view is under challenge before US.
Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
appellant has raised the following points :(i) The allegation that witnesses
were not willing to come forward to depose against the appellant in public is
falsified by the very record of the present proceedings.
(ii)The particulars contained in the notice
issued under section 59 of the Act are so vague that the appellant could not
possibly meet the allegations made against him and thus he was denied
reasonable opportunity to defend himself.
(iii)The externing authority must pass a
reasoned order or else the right of appeal would become illusory.
(iv)The State Government also ought to have
given reasons in support of the order dismissing the appeal. Its failure to
state reasons show non-application of mind, and (v) The order of externment
imposes unreasonable restrictions on the personal liberty of the appellant in
that, whereas his activities are alleged to be restricted to an area within the
jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station, the order of externment not only
extends to the Whole District of Greater Bombay but to the District of Thana
also.
Regarding the first point, it is urged that
in Criminal Cases No. 2106/P of 1969 and 2337/P of 1969 which were filed (1)
[1968] 3 S.C.R. 746.
68 against the appellant in the court of the
learned Presidency Magistrate, 22nd Court, Andheri, Bombay, five witnesses were
examined by the persecution in each case thereby falsifying the. assertion that
witnesses were not willing to come forward to depose against the appellant in
public. We cannot accept this contention. No connection is shown to exist
between the two particular criminal cases and the incidents referred to in the
externment order. Counsel attempted to establish that connection by saying that
Damayanti Deshpande who was inmical to the appellant was the motive force
behind the prosecution as well as the externment proceedings. But the,
affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner has specifically denied that allegation.
Besides, as held by this Court in Bhagubhai
Dullabhabhai Bhandari v. The District Magistrate, Thana & Ors. (1), though,
in order to attract the operation of section 56 of the Act, the officer
concerned has to satisfy himself that witnesses are not willing to come forward
to give evidence in public, it is not necessary that all the witnesses must be
found thus unwilling to give evidence. The circumstance therefore that in the
two criminal cases certain witnesses came forward to depose against the
appellant in public cannot falsify the assertion that witnesses were unwilling
to give evidence against the appellant in public.
On the second point, it is necessary to call
attention to the notice issued to the appellant, which was in these terms :
"NOTICE UNDER SECTION 59 OF THE BOMBAY
POLICE ACT, 1961
Name, address and age : Shri Pandharinath
Shridhar Rangnekar, Hindu, 28 years, Res. Rama Niwas, Nariman Road, Vile Parle
(East), Bombay-57.
Under Section 59 of the Bombay Police Act,
1951 (Bom. XXIII of 1951) you are hereby informed that the following
allegations are made against you in proceedings against you under section 56 of
the said Act.
In order to give you opportunity of tendering
your explanation regarding the said allegations, I have appointed 9 A.M. on
16-10-1969 to receive your explanation and to hear you and your witness, if
any, in regard to the said allegations I Shri N. S. Joshi, Assistant
Commissioner of Police 'M' Division, Bombay therefore require you to appear
before me at Vile Parl e Police Station on the said date viz. 16-10-1969 at 9
A.M. for the said purpose and to pass a bond in the (1) [1956] S.C.R. 533.
the 69 sum of Rs. 5001for your attendance
'during the enquiry of the said proceedings. Should you fail to appear before
me and to pass the bond as directed above, I shall proceed with the enquiry in
your absence.
Take note.
Allegations:1.Since March 1969 in the
localities of Nehru Road, Azad Road, Monghibai Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Ram
Mandir Road and the areas adjoining thereto in the jurisdiction of Vile Parle
Police Station, Great of Bombay your acts and movements are causing harm, alarm
and danger to the residents of the aforesaid localities 'and areas.
2.That you assault the residents of the
aforesaid localities and areas either suspecting them of giving information to
the police about your illegal activities or because they fail accede to your
demand of money which offences are punishable under chapter XVI of. the Indian
Penal Code.
3.That you commit robberies by extorting
money and articles from the residents of the aforesaid localities and areas by
means of assault and/or under threats of assault which are offences punishable
under chapter XVII of the Indian Penal Code.
4.That since March,, 1969, you have committed
several-acts of the matter described in paras 1, 2 and 3 above.
5.That the witnesses to your above described
acts and movements are not willing to come forward and depose against you in
public by reason of apprehension on their part as regards the safety of their
persons in that they apprehend danger to the safety of their person or
property, if they do so.
Sd/9-10-1969 N. S. Joshi, Assistant
Commissioner of Police 'N' Division, Bandra, Bombay." Section 56 of the
Act provides, to the extent material, that whenever it shall appear in Greater
Bombay to the Commissioner (a) that the movements or acts of any person are
causing or are calculated to cause alarm, danger or harm to person or property,
or (b) that there are reasonable grounds for believing that such person is
engaged or is about to be engaged in the commission 70 of an offence involving
force or violence or an offence punishable under Chapter XII, XVI or XVII of
the Indian Penal Code, and when in the opinion of such officer witnesses are
not willing to come forward to give evidence in public against such person by reason
of apprehension on their part as regards the safety of their person or
property, the said officer may by order in writing direct such person to remove
himself outside the area within the local limits of his jurisdiction or such
area and any district or districts, or any part thereof contiguous thereto,
within such time as the said officer may prescribe and not to enter or return
to the said area from which he was directed to remove himself. .Under section
58, an order of externment passed under section 56 can in no case exceed a
period of two years from the date on which it was made.
The relevant part of section 59(1) provides
that before an order under section 56 is passed against any person, the officer
shall inform that person in writing "of the general nature of the material
allegations against him and give him a reasonable opportunity of tendering an
explanation regarding those allegations. The proposed externee is entitled to
lead evidence unless the authority takes the view that the application for
examination of witnesses is made for the purpose of vexation or delay. Section
59 also confers on the person concerned a right to file a written statement and
to appear through an advocate or attorney.
These provisions show that the reasons which
necessitate or justify the passing of an externment order arise out of
extraordinary circumstances. An order of externment can be passed under clause
(a) or (b) of section 56 if, and only if, the authority concerned is satisfied
that witnesses are unwilling to come forward to give evidence in public against
the proposed externee by reason of apprehension on their part as regards the
safety of their person or property. A full and complete disclosure of
particulars such as is requisite in an open prosecution will frustrate the very
purpose of an externment proceeding. If the show cause notice were to furnish
to the proposed externee concrete data like specific dates of incidents or the
names of persons involved in-these incidents, it would be easy enough to fix
the identity of those who out of fear of injury to their person or property are
unwilling to depose in public.
There is a brand of lawless element in
society which it is impossible to bring to book by established methods of
judicial trial because in such trials there can be no conviction without legal
evidence. And Illegal evidence is impossible to obtain, because out of fear of
reprisals witnesses are unwilling to depose in public, That explains why
section 59 of the Act imposes but a limited obligation on the authorities to
inform the proposed externee "of the general nature of the material
allegations against him".
That obligation fixes 71 the limits of the
co-relative right of the proposed externee. He is entitled, before an order of
externment is passed under section 56, to know the material allegations against
him and the general nature of those allegations. He is not entitled to be
informed of specific particulars relating to the material allegations.
It is true that the provisions of section 56
make a serious inroad on personal liberty but such restraints have to be
suffered in the larger interests of society. This Court in Gurbachan Singh v.
The State of Bombay and Another(1) had upheld the validity of section 27(1) of
the City of Bombay Policy Act, 1902, which corresponds to section 38 of the
Act. Following that decision, the challenge to the constitutionality of section
56 was repelled in Bhagubhai Dullabhabhai Bhandari v. The District Magistrate,
Thana & Others (2 ). We will only add that care must be taken to ensure
that the terms of sections 56 and 59 are strictly complied with and that the
slender safeguards Which those provisions offer are made available to the
proposed externee.
In Hari Khemu Gawali V. The Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Bombay and Another(3), in which an order of externment
was passed under section 57 of the Act, it was held by this Court on an
examination of the general scheme of the Act that the provisions of sections
55, 56, 57 and 59 cannot be held to be invalid on the grounds that only the
general nature of the material allegations is required to be disclosed to the
externee, and ,that it would be difficult for him to get the matter judicially
examined. Sinha J., speaking for the majority, observed:
"The grounds available to an externee
had necessarily to be very limited in their scope because if evidence were
available which could be adduced in public, such a person could be dealt with
under the preventive sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for example,
under section 107 or section 110. But the special provisions now under
examination proceed on the basis that the person dealt with under any of the
sections 55, 56 or 57 is of such a character as not to permit the ordinary laws
of the land being put in motion in the ordinary way mainly of examining
witnesses in open court who should be crossexamined by the party against whom
they were deposing.' The provisions we are now examining are plainly intended
to be used in special cases requiring special treatment, that is, cases which
cannot be dealt with under the preventive sections of the Code of Criminal
Procedure." (1) [1952] S.C.R. 737. (2) [1956] S.C.R. 533.
(3) [1956] S.C.R. 506.
72 In State of Gujarat and Anr. etc. v.
Mehboob Khan Usman Khan etc. (1) this Court, reversing the judgment of the High
Court of Gujarat, rejected the argument that a notice substantially similar to
the one in the instant case was bad for vagueness. It was held that the person
proposed to be extend was entitled to be informed of the general nature of the
material allegations and not to the particulars of those allegations. As to the
meaning of the phrase "general nature of the material allegations",
it was observed :
"Without attempting to be exhaustive we
may state that when a person is stated to be a 'thief, that allegation is
vague.
Again, when it is said that 'A' stole a watch
from X on a particular day and at a particular place', tie allegation can be
said to be particular. Again, when it is stated that' X is seen at crowded bus
stands and he picks pockets' it is of a general nature of a material
allegation. Under the last illustration, given above, will come the
allegations, which, according to the Gujarat High Court, suffer from being too
general, or vague. Considering it from the point of view of the party against
whom an order of externment is proposed to be passed, it must be emphasised
that when he has to tender an explanation to a notice, under S. 59, he can only
give an explanation, which can be of a general nature. It may be open to him to
take a defence, of the action being taken, due to mala fides, malice or
mistaken identity, or he may be able to tender proof of his general good
conduct, or alibi, during the period covered by the notice and the like."
We must therefore reject the argument that the particulars contained in the
notice are vague. We endorse the view of the High Court that Criminal
Application No. 332 of 1971 in which judgment was delivered on April 29, 1971
by another Division Bench of that court was not correctly decided, to the
extent to which the notice therein was held to be vague.
The view taken in that case is inconsistent
with the view expressed by this Court in Mehboob Khan's case.
The third and fourth point have the same
answer as the second point just dealt with by us. Precisely for the reasons for
which the proposed externee is only entitled to be informed of the general
nature of the material allegations, neither the externing authority nor the
State Government in appeal can be asked to write a reasoned order in the nature
of a judgment. If those authorities were to discuss the evidence in the case,
it would be easy to fix the identity of witnesses who were unwilling to depose
in (1) [1968] 3 S.C.R. 746.
73 public against the proposed externee. A
reasoned order containing a discussion of the evidence led against the externee
would probably spark off another round of tyranny and harassment.
As regards the last point, it is primarily
for the externing, authority to decide how best the externment order can be
made effective, so as to subserve its real purpose.
Now long, within the statutory limit of 2
years fixed by section 58, the order shall operate and to what territories,
within the statutory limitations of section 56 it should extend, are matters
which must depend for their decision on the nature of the data which the
authority is able ,to collect in the externment proceedings. There are cases
and cases and therefore no general formulation can be made that the order of
externment must always be restricted to the area to which the illegal
activities of the externee extend.
A larger area may conceivably have to be
comprised within the externment order so as to isolate the externee from his
moorings.
An excessive order can undoubtedly be struck
down because no greater restraint on personal liberty can be permitted that is
reasonable in the circumstances of the case. The decision of the Bombay High
Court in Balu Shivling Dombe v. The Divisional Magistrate, Pandharpur (71
Bombay Law Reporter 79) is an instance in point where an externment order was
set aside on the ground that it was far wider than was justified by the
exigencies of the case. The activities of the externee therein were confined to
the city of Pandharpur and yet the externment order covered an area as extensive
as the districts of Sholapur, Satara and Poona.
These areas are far widely removed from the
locality in which the externee had committed but two supposedly illegal acts.
The exercise of the power was therefore arbitrary and excessive, the order
having been passed without reference to the purpose of the externment.
But Balu Shivling's case furnishes no analogy
in the instant matter. A vast city like Bombay presents its own peculiar
problems of law and order. It has an ever-growing industrial complex and the
city has spread its areas far and wide. A fair proportion of its teeming
population is, mobile, with large multitudes streaming in and out of the city
in the pursuit of their daily avocations. An order of externment restricted to
the particular area chosen by the externee for his unlawful activities and to a
small periphery thereof would in such circumstances fail of its true purpose.
It would be impossible to secure obedience to such an order and its enforcement
would raise practical problems which would impair the efficacy of the order. An
order in the instant case if restricted, say, to the areas within the
jurisdiction of the Vile Parle police station and its periphery would not serve
its purpose. Rather than solving a problem of law and order, it would create
yet one more.
74 That is why, on similar facts, the Bombay
High Court has consistently repelled challenges made to externment orders on
the ground that they extended not only to the district of Greater Bombay but to
the district of Thana as well. In Criminal Application No. 1427 of 1968 a
Division Bench (Kotval C. J. and Kamat J.) observed in their judgment of March
17, 1968 :"In the present case the area of activity of the externee was
undoubtedly stated to be Santacruz, but Santacruz is a fairly wide area.
Moreover, it is very intimately connected with the surrounding area of Thana
district. It is common knowledge that Thana town in the surrounding area is
also an area where large industries have grown contiguous with the industrial
area of Greater Bombay and that the entire industrial area is connected
together by several means of communication Including suburban trains of which
there are several during each day,, by taxis plying to and from Greater Bombay
and by bus services operating between Greater Bombay and several parts of Thana
District. Therefore, the Police could reasonably have thought that it would not
be sufficient to ask the petitioner to keep off only from the area of Greater
Bombay which has an equally busy and highly industrialised area contiguous to
it. Therefore, the order was extended to Thana District." A similar view
taken by Palekar and Gatne JJ. in Criminal Applications 30 and 93 of 1970
decided on February 23, 1970 by Tulzapurkar J. in 73 Bombay Law Reporter 442 at
pp. 453454 and by Bhasme and Kania JJ. in Criminal Application No. 149 of 1972
decided on March 3, 1972. As against the judgment last mentioned the externee
had filed special leave petition No. 487 of 1972 in this Court, one of the
grounds stated therein being that the externment order was void because the
externee was asked to remove himself not only out of the district of Greater
Bombay but from the limits of Thana district as will. The petition was
dismissed by this Court (Palekar and Dwivedi JJ.) on September 20, 1972.
These judgments of the Bombay High Court have
taken the view that the districts of Greater Bombay and Thana form, so to say,
a single unit. Palekar J. observes in his judgment in Criminal Applications
Nos. 30 and 93 of 1970 : "It may be that the area of operation may be in a
particular locality, but if the externment is limited only to that area, then
it might be impossible to prevent the externee from visitingthat area every
day. Any part in Bombay is easily connected by transport with any other part of
Greater Bombay and also the Thana District, and if, for example, 'an externee
is externed outside the limits of Greater Bombay, then he should not take more
than 15 minutes 'to reach Kurla 75 from a Place like Thana if the latter is
excluded from externment. The very object of externment is to make it as
difficult as possible to the externee to return to the field of his
activities." Tulzapurkar J. expressed the same view by saying that
"the contiguous area of Thana district is intimately connected with the
industrial area of Greater Bombay with cheaper and quicker means of transport
and communication." According to Bhasme J. who delivered the judgment of
the Bench in Criminal Application No. 149 of 1972, "By reason of the means
of communication and proximity, the districts of Greater Bombay and Thana are
for all practical purposes one local area or one district." Deshmukh J. in
the _judgment under appeal, says that "Greater Bombay and Thana districts
are ... intimately connected by Several communications". In matters of
local colour and conditions the view so consistently expressed by the learned
Judges of the High Court must, in our opinion, be accepted as correct.
In the result the appeal fails and is
dismissed.
K.B.N. Appeal dismissed.
Back
