Vikki Yadav @ Bikram Bharti vs State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary and Ors.

Navaniti Pd. Singh, J. (Oral)- This is a writ of habeas corpus in respect of the petitioner who has been detained in terms of Bihar Control of Crime Act, 1981 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act").

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, before the detention order was passed, he was not issued a show cause, though, at that time, he was in judicial custody pursuant to being accused in two criminal cases. This, according to the learned counsel, vitiates the order of detention. We are unable to accept the submission as under the Act, no pre-detention show cause notice is required to be given to a detenue, it is the satisfaction of the detaining authority that is relevant.

It is next submitted that the petitioner has already been released on bail in both the cases. The order of detention itself mentions that petitioner is likely to be released on bail, and as such, the necessity of preventive detention. Preventive detention does not become void, if a person is released from judicial custody on bail. The very idea of preventive detention is to detain a habitual offender without any formal accusation or trial. Thus, merely the fact that the petitioner has been released on bail is no ground to challenge the detention order. It is thus submitted that petitioner has not been convicted in any offence, and as such, he cannot be termed as habitual offender. Again, we are unable to uphold the submission, inasmuch as if a person is already convicted then he would be serving jail sentence and preventive detention is not required to be passed. Preventive detention is in addition to a normal judicial proceeding and is not in derogation thereof.

Thus, we find no merit in this writ application, it is, accordingly, dismissed.