SC: Liberty supreme, can’t hold people in preventive custody

Jan 06, 2012 |

New Delhi

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The Supreme Court (SC) has said personal liberty of citizens is supreme and ruled government law-enforcing agencies do not enjoy unbridled power of preventive detention on the pretext of national security.

“Personal liberty of an individual is the most precious and prize right guaranteed under constitution’s chapter III, which deals with fundamental rights,” a bench of justices Altamas Kabir, S.S.
Nijjar and J. Chelameswar said.

SC said articles 21 and 22 of the constitution, which guaranteed right to personal liberty, could not be violated by law-enforcing agencies to hold a person in preventive detention even on the ground that he had committed a “heinous” crime listed under IPC earlier, the top court said in a judgment pronounced Wednesday but made available to the media Thursday.

“An individual incident of an offence under IPC, however heinous, is insufficient to make out a case for issuance of an order of preventive detention,” SC said releasing Yamman Somendro alias Samo Tiken of Manipur.

Somendro was repeatedly arrested under National Security Act since 1994, last on February 7, 2011.

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