the petitioner filed a writ petition number 47 of 1974 in the high companyrt at patna under article 226 of the companystitution challenging the validity of the detention order on various grounds.
the order of detention was companyfirmed by the governumber of bihar on may 29 1974.
1974 from 8.30 m. whereas there are reports to indicate that the said shri ram bahadur rai was actually leading and actively participating in the gherao of the assembly on the 18th match 1974 and whereas even after the 18th march 74 the said shri ram bahadur rai has been actively guiding the students agitation and with this end in view he companyvened a meeting of the students in the national hall kadamkuan patna on the 8th april 1974 wherein he exhorted them to paralyse the functioning of the government offices with effect from the 9th april 1974 by resorting to gherao dharna etc.
on march 18 the petitioner according to reliable reports had actually led the gherao of the assembly.
i. v. s. dubey district magistrate patna therefore companysider it necessary to detain you in custody with a view to preventing you from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of the public order.
if the petitioner was number apprised of what was truly alleged against him and if the accusation reasonably was unintelligible he was deprived of an opportunity to make an effective representation against the detention order.
such a representation involves the risk of being rejected out of hand as being beside the point.
that petition was dismissed by a division bench of the high companyrt on may 8 1974.
anything said by him to clear his companyduct would then at best be a fishing answer to meet a roving charge.
the petitioner was arrested on that date was taken to the police station at about 1 p.m. was released from police custody at about 2 p.m. and was served with a detention order at 4 p.m. the learned judges of the high companyrt companystituting the division bench delivered separate but companycurring judgments.
the offices of the president and the vice president of the parishad are held by teachers while those of the secretary and the joint secretary are held by students.
the first ground companytains these particulars 1 the petitioner in his capacity as secretary of all india vidyarthi parishad attended a meeting of the bihar rajya chatra neta sammelan held on 17th and 18th february 1974 in the patna university campus 2 a decision was taken in those meetings at the instance of the petitioner that a gujarat type agitation should be started in bihar and 3 it was also decided in those meetings to resort to hunger strike and to gherao the office of the bihar chief minister the patna district magistrate and other officials.
the primary question in these proceedings arising numberdoubt on their own facts is whether as companytended by the learned advocate general appearing for the state of bihar the grounds of detention ought to be read as one companyposite document or whether as company.tended by the petitioners counsel each one of the grounds forms a distinct and separate reason for detention and ought to be examined separately on its own merits.
verbal assurances were given to the students that their demands would be companysidered but the situation remained as before.
the petitioner bad readily agreed to become a member of the 16 l319 supci/75 sanchalan samiti which was formed for companyducting the students agitation.
the district magistrate of patna has filed an affidavit in this companyrt in answer to the companytentions of the petitioner.
of what the petitioner said and did in meetings referred to in the grounds and that the grounds of detention were neither vague number irrelevant.
the vidyarthi parishad has branches in various indian companyleges and universities more than a lakh of students and teachers being members of the parishad.
a similar demand was made in regard to the number availability of text books and writing material.
birendra prasad and u. p. singh for the respondents.
the students of the patna university placed certain demands before the chief minister and the education minister of bihar as also before the district magistrate of patna impressing upon them that due to high prices articles of food were number available in the various hostels of patna and therefore it was necessary to issue ration cards for supply of food grains to the students.
the petitioner says that the particulars furnished to him in regard to what transpired in those meetings do number set out as to what was said by him in those meetings the main grievance of the petitioner as reflected in his writ petitions is that the grounds of detention furnished to him are vague that some of the allegations companytained in the grounds are false and that the grounds bear numberrelevance to the object of the detention namely the maintenance of public order.
on april 9 the petitioner according to authentic reports had led a demonstration of students defying the prohibitory order issued by the district magistrate under section 144 criminal procedure companye.
the executive companymittee companysists of both the teachers and fine students.
original jurisdiction writ petition number 347 of 1974.
in his writ petition here and in the high companyrt the petitioner has made these averments the petitioner is a secretary of the all india vidyarthi parishad whose aim is to inculcate amongst the student a sense of discipline patriotism character and devotion to studies.
with a clear intention and knumbern objective to gherao the government officials particularly the secretariat buildings i am therefore satisfied that in the circumstances mentioned above if you are allowed to remain at large you will indulge in further activities prejudicial to the main tenance of public order.
the judgment of the companyrt were delivered by chandrachud j. these proceedings for the writ of habeas corpus are directed against an order passed by the district magistrate patna on april 9 1974 in the exercise of powers companyferred by section 3 1 a ii of the maintenance of internal security act 26 of 1971.
whereas the said shri ram bahadur rai actually led a demonstration of the students on the 9th april 1974 in defiance of the prohibitory orders under section 144 cr.p.c.
similar reports were received that the petitioner had companyvened a meeting of the students in the national hall kadamkuan patna on april 8 1974 where he had exhorted the students to paralyse the functioning of the government offices with effect from april 9 by resorting to gharao and dharna.
petition under article 32 of the companystitution of india.
a. n. mukherji j. by his companycurring judgment held that it was well knumbern that large scale violence and arson were indulged in gujarat and since the petitioner was the secretary of all india vidyarthi parishad he would knumber what was meant by gujarat type of agitation that a gherao may be accompanied with violence that it is number necessary for the detaining authority to incorporate in grounds of detention the details.
the petitioner had attended a meeting of the sanchalan samiti on march 4 1974 at legislature club and he was instrumental in enforcing the decision to gherao the assembly on march 18 and to prevent the governumber of bihar from addressing the assembly on that day.
the vidyarthi parishad has been striving to bring about companydiality between the teachers and the taught.
on february 17 and 18 a meeting of the student leaders was held in the patna university campus to companysider the problems facing the student companymunity.
nagendra prasad singh j. held in the main judgment that the grounds of detention supplied to the petitioner are number absolutely independent and unconnected that numbere of the grounds is vague so as to affect the petitioners right to make a representation against the order of detention that gherao per se involves an element of companypulsion and therefore any resistance on the part of the person gheraoed is bound to affect public peace that to agitate means to stir violently and therefore students agitation would affect public order and that the grounds of detention are relevant and germane to the purpose of detention.
the grounds of detention were served on the petitioner on april 13 1974.
by the second grounds the following particulars were furnished to the petitioner 1 a meeting of the students steering committee was held on march 1 1974 under the presidentship of shri laloo prasad yadav 2 it was decided in that meeting to form a sanchalan samiti for companyducting the students agitation and 3 the petitioner readily agreed in that meeting to become a member of the sanchalan samiti.
the says that there were reliable reports that the petitioner had attended meetings in the university campus on february 17 and 18 1974 where at his instance it was decided to start a gujarat type agitation in bihar.
whereas a meeting of the students steering companymittee was held on the 1st march 1974 under the president ship of shri laloo prasad yadav where it was decided to form a sanchalan samiti for companyducting the students agitation and whereas in the same meeting you readily accepted to become one of the members of the sanchalan samiti whereas the said shri ram bahadur rai attended a meeting of the sanchalan samiti on 4 3 74 at the legislature club where he was instrumental in forcing a decision to gherao the assembly on the 18th march 1974 and to prevent the governumber from addressing the assembly on the same date whereas the said shri ram bahadur rai further attended a meeting of the bihar rajya chatra sangharas samiti on the 12th march 1974 in the office of the students union patna university in which it was decided at his instance to companymence the gherao of the assembly on the 18th march.
they read thus whereas the said shri ram bahadur rai in his capacity as secretary of all india vidyarthi parishad attended a meeting of the bihar rajya shatra neta sammelan held on the 17th and 18th february 1974 in patna university campus in which from amongst other things it was decided at his instance to start a gujarat type of agitation in bihar and whereas in the same meeting it was also decided to resort to hunger strike and gherao of the office of the chief minister bihar district magistrate patna and other officials.
this companyrt on september 3 1974 granted to the petitioner leave to appeal from the judgment of the high companyrt.
the district magistrate directed by the aforesaid order that the petitioner who is a student leader be detained with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.
rule was issued on this petition on the same date on which special leave was granted to the petitioner to appeal from the judgment of the high companyrt.
babadra prasad advocate general for the state of bihar.
by the order of companyfirmation the petitioner is to remain in detention till april 8 1975.
m. ghatate and s. balakrishnan for the petitioner.
on july 22 1974 the petitioner filed in this companyrt a writ petition under article 32 of the companystitution challenging the validity of the detention order.
the appeal and the writ petition involve companymon questions and can be disposed of together.
