DULAL ROY vs THE DISTRICT MAGISTRATE, BURDWAN AND ORS.

The Supreme Court held that an order of preventive detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971, is vulnerable if made against a person already in custody for a substantive offence, as it may be seen as a misuse of power to circumvent penal law. The Court emphasized that the detaining authority must provide specific material circumstances justifying the necessity of detention despite the individual being in jail. In this case, the absence of a detailed counter-affidavit from the detaining authority led to the conclusion that the detention order was illegal and thus, the writ petition was allowed.