Mumbai: Observing that there was a breach of principle of natural justice, the Bombay High Court has quashed and set aside an order of a top ranking police officer externing a person from Mumbai and suburbs for two years.
The court also held that certain extraneous material had been considered while passing the externment order by the concerned authority against Salim Anwar Badshah Sayed, a city resident.
Accordingly, Justice A P Bhangale and Justice A S Oka set aside the externment order passed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone VIII against Salim Sayed on April 27, 2012, in exercise of power under section 56 (a) of Bombay Police Act.
The judges noted that they had perused the notice by which the petitioner was called upon to show cause as to why he should not be externed. In the notice, reliance was placed on nine criminal offences registered against him.
The judges further observed that the impugned order of externment showed that reliance has been placed on two other offences and one N C case registered against the petitioner. However, in the show cause notice, there is absolutely no reference to additional three offences which are considered by the Externing Authority.
"The order of externment affects a liberty of an individual. The said Act contemplates that show-cause notice should be issued to the externee before passing an order of externment. Moreover, the externee is entitled to adduce evidence by examining the witnesses", the bench remarked.
"In this case, the show cause notice did not refer to three offences which are considered while passing the order of externment. The petitioner was deprived of an opportunity to deal with the allegations in relation to the three offences," the judges said in their recent order.
Therefore, not only that there is a breach of principle of natural justice but while passing the order of externment, but also extraneous material has been considered, the judges said.
In the circumstances, the bench rendered the impugned order of externment illegal and quashed and set aside the same.
PTI
