Kantilal Hirji Shah vs State Of Tamil Nadu And Ors.

The Supreme Court held that the delay in the disposal of the detenu's representation violated Article 22(5) of the Constitution of India, which mandates that a representation against detention must be considered expeditiously. The Court emphasized that the representation should have been placed directly before the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, as per the delegation of powers under Section 11 of the COFEPOSA Act. The Court found that the representation was not handled promptly, leading to a breach of constitutional rights, and thus ruled in favor of the petitioner.