Union Of India & Ors vs Atam Parkash & Anr

The Supreme Court addressed the legality of a detention order dated 10.5.1993, which was quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the grounds of it becoming infructuous. The Court reiterated that under Articles 226 and 32 of the Constitution, courts can intervene with detention orders only if they are not passed under the relevant Act, are directed at the wrong person, or are based on extraneous grounds. The Court held that while the High Court's decision to quash the order was valid, granting liberty to issue a fresh order was inconsistent with the finding of the order being infructuous, leading to the appeal being allowed in part.