Law: Baluchistan Public Safety Regulation (I of 1947)

Section: 7(5)

(a) Baluchistan Public Safety Regulation (1 of 1947) (as amended by West Pakistan Preventive Detention Laws (Amend ment) Ordinance (VI of 1956), S. 3 (5-A) (i)Communica tion of grounds to detenu mandatory-Question whether grounds communicated "as soon as may be" one of fact-Communication about two months after order does not carry out requirement of sub-section 5-A (i).   Where the order of detention was dated 4th November 1955 and subsection (5-A)(i) requiring the detaining authority to communicate the grounds of detention to the detenu, was added to section 3, Baluchistan Public Safety Regulation (I of 1947), consistently with Article 7 (5) of the constitution, on 23rd March, 1956 (the date of the coming into force of the Constitution), but the grounds of detention were not communicated to the detenu till about two months from 23rd March 1956:   Held, that the detaining authority had not supplied the grounds "as soon as may be", as was required by the mandatory provisions of subsection (5-A) (i) of Regulation (I of 1947) (as amended) and that the grounds could have been supplied at the latest by the first week of April 1956.   That, the question whether the grounds had been communicated to the detenu "as soon as may be" was a ques tion of fact, which would depend upon the particular facts and circumstances of each case.   The words "as soon as may be" denote that the detaining authority would expeditiously enable the detenu by supplying the grounds to make a representation to the authority concerned.   Murat Patwa v. Province of Bihar A I R 1948 Pat. 135 ; Muzaffaruddin and Muhammad Shafi v. The Crown P L R 1949 Kar. 77 ref.   (b) Baluchistan Public Safety Regulation (1 of 1947) (as amended by West Pakistan Preventive Detention Laws (Amend ment) Ordinance (VI of 1956) S. 3-Detention under S.3 becoming illegal by reason of non-compliance with Art. 7, Constitution of Pakistan-Order extending such illegal detention also illegal.   The Baluchistan Public Safety Regulation, 1947, did not contain any provision as regards communication of the grounds of detention to the detenu and reference…