Surjit Singh vs State of Punjab and Another

S.S. Sodhi, J.—The release of the petitioner Surjit Singh now detained in the jail at Nabha, is sought on the ground that there is no order of detention passed against him by the competent Court to warrant his being detained there. According to the return filed by the Superintendent, District Jail, Nabha, no judicial remand of the petitioner Surjit Singh could be obtained in view of the order passed by the Punjab Government u/s 268 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, restraining his removal from the jail for production in the Court concerned. It was mentioned in this behalf that the petitioner could not, on this account, be produced before any Court after Sept. 6, 1986.

There is a patent illegality in the detention of the petitioner. It is well settled that ho person can be detained in jail except in accordance with an order of detention passed against him by the competent Court. The provisions of Section 268 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, can by no means be construed or read to imply that any person in respect of whom, an order passed thereunder operates, can be detained without a specific order of detention being passed against him by the competent Court. In the absence of any such order, the Jail Superintendent must of necessity be directed to release the petitioner forthwith.