The Madras High Court bench on Tuesday ordered notices to the Kanyakumari police and the district administration on the habeas corpus petitions filed by the family members of three persons detained in the Madurai Central Prison to quash their detention under the National Security Act.
The families of the accused, S.Prabhu, A.Abdul and Shaji, said the three were originally booked under Sections 294 (b) and 307 of the Indian Penal Code for brutally assaulting M.R.Gandhi, a BJP functionary, at Nagercoil in April. Later they were charged under Sections 147, 148, 294 (b), 307, 120 (b) and 153 (a) of the Indian Penal Code, the petitioners said.
The petitioners contended that the accused were in no way connected with the assault of the BJP functionary.
“The order of detention under the National Security Act was passed in a mala fide exercise of power vested with the detaining authority,” the petitioners claimed.
“The accused were detained without any substantial materials. The detaining authority failed to follow the procedural dictums while passing the NSA. The detention order is liable to be quashed,” they further claimed.
The case was heard by a division bench comprising Justices S.Rajeswaran and T.Mathivanan on Tuesday. The bench ordered notices to the Kanyakumari district administration and the Superintendent of Police and adjourned the case by four weeks.
