Rajan.P.V vs State Of Kerala

A. Muhamed Mustaque, J.

The petitioner is the father of the detenu. The detenu is aged 24 years. The detenu is detained invoking the provisions of the Kerala Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007. He is involved in four cases. Three cases were considered for passing the detention order. The last case was also a gruesome murder of an elderly person on a mere provocation arose out of an incident in a DJ party. The last incident was on 30.08.2023. He was apprehended on 31.08.2023. Since then, he is under judicial custody. The reports were submitted on 29.11.2023, 6.12.2023 and 26.12.2023. Thereafter, the detention order was passed on 08.01.2024.

The learned counsel for the petitioner vehemently argued that there is a delay of more than four months in passing the detention order. The delay has not been explained and the impugned order has to be set aside.

We considered the impugned order in detail. The delay has been explained in the impugned order itself. It is to be noted that the detenu is under judicial custody. It is not necessary in every case that the authority should rush to invoke the proceedings under the KAAPA Act. If the detenu is under judicial custody, the authority should take into account all the circumstances to find out whether there is any need to pass an order under the KAAPA Act. The nature of offence, gravity and impact are all relevant factors while passing such an order invoking provisions under the KAAPA Act.

There are no laches to hold that the live-link between the last prejudicial activity and the order of detention is snapped. It is to be noted that the authorities were bound to obtain reports and sought further reports from the sponsoring authority which perhaps resulted in some delay in passing the order. Anyway, we cannot say that the delay as such would defeat the very objective of the detention order. Therefore, the W.P.Crl. is failed and accordingly, dismissed.