"No Disturbance To 'Public Order', How PASA Invoked In Gambling Cases?": Gujarat High Court Quashes Detention Order

Emphasizing that by no stretch of imagination can it be held that Gambling incidents could disturb public order, the Gujarat High Court recently set aside judgment and order of the Single Judge and quashed the detention order passed on the basis of two cases registered against one Asheshbhai Dudhiya under the Gambling Act.

Essentially, the single judge of the High Court had earlier dismissed the writ petition challenging the order of preventive detention, and therefore, a Letters Patent Appeal had been preferred before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav.

Submissions made before the Court

On the basis of two cases registered against the appellant Dudhiya, the impugned detention order was passed [First being a case under Sections 4 and 5 of the Gambling Act and the second, offence under Sections 4 and 5 of the Gambling Act, Section 269 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 51(b) of the Disaster Management Act]

It was argued that the invoking of jurisdiction under the preventive detention law [] was totally unjustified as there was no disturbance of public order. It was also submitted that the appellant was in custody since March 2021. 

On the other hand, the Assistant Government Pleader submitted that the order of detention was fully justified and that a total of nine offences were registered against the appellant in different police stations under the Prevention of Gambling Act and, therefore, the appellant had to be considered as a habitual offender as he fell within the definition of Section 2(bb) of `common gaming house keeper' under the PASA Act.

Court's observations

The Court, at the outset, noted that the Law of preventive detention has to be construed not as an ordinary criminal proceeding of detaining or arresting a person who is said to have committed a crime where the procedure is provided and the remedy is available.

Therefore, the Court opined that the law of preventive detention is to be strictly followed as per the statute and the settled law on the point.

"In the present case, by no stretch of imagination can we hold that such incidents could disturb public order," said the Court while ruling that the order of detention cannot be sustained in the instant case.

Case title - Asheshbhai Indravadanbhai Dudhiya (Ganchi) v. State Of Gujarat & 2 Other(s)

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