Validity of detention order can still be challenged in SAFEMA proceedings when the earlier writ ended without merits adjudication.

In SAFEMA proceedings, a person may still challenge the underlying detention order where an earlier writ petition against that order was dismissed as infructuous without any adjudication on merits. The absence of a merits determination means the earlier challenge was not unsuccessful, and the affected person is not precluded from disputing the detention order when that order is a statutory prerequisite for SAFEMA action. The High Court was required to examine the validity of the detention order rather than refuse the challenge on the ground of delay or prior dismissal.

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Issues: Whether, in proceedings under SAFEMA, the appellant could challenge the validity of the detention order even though the earlier writ petition against that order had been dismissed as infructuous without adjudication on merits, and whether the existence of a valid detention order was a condition precedent for initiating SAFEMA proceedings.

Analysis: The earlier challenge to the detention order had been disposed of without any finding on merits because the order had been revoked and the petition was treated as infructuous. In such a situation, the absence of an adjudication on the validity of the detention order did not amount to an unsuccessful challenge. Since a valid detention order was a sine qua non for proceedings under SAFEMA, the appellant was entitled to question the detention order when contesting the proceedings initiated against her. The High Court was therefore required to examine the validity of the detention order instead of declining the challenge on the ground of lapse of time.

Conclusion: The appellant's challenge to the detention order was maintainable in the SAFEMA proceedings, and the High Court erred in refusing to decide it on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an earlier challenge to a detention order is disposed of without adjudication on merits, the detenu or affected person is not precluded from challenging that order later in proceedings where the existence of a valid detention order is a statutory prerequisite.

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