Habeas corpus and remand compliance: custody fails without a valid subsisting order authorising detention.

In habeas corpus, custody must be justified by a valid and subsisting remand order on the date of return. An expired remand order, coupled only with an adjournment order, does not satisfy the statutory requirement for continued detention under the Criminal Procedure Code. Where no written remand order authorising further custody is produced in compliance with the Court's direction, and the court declines to rely on unsupported documents, the detention cannot be sustained. The petitioners were therefore entitled to immediate release, reaffirming that personal liberty can be curtailed only if remand safeguards are strictly observed.

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Issues: Whether the detention of the petitioners was lawful in the absence of a valid remand order in force at the time of the return, and whether the requirements of remand under the Code of Criminal Procedure were duly complied with.

Analysis: In habeas corpus proceedings, the legality of custody has to be tested with reference to the state of affairs existing at the time of the return. The earlier remand order had expired, and the record produced before the Court contained only an adjournment order, not a written order remanding the accused to custody as required by section 344 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Documents said to support continued detention were not properly produced in compliance with the Court's direction, and the Court declined to act upon them. As no valid order authorising further detention was shown to exist on the material date, the custody could not be justified.

Conclusion: The detention was unlawful and the petitioners were entitled to immediate release.

Final Conclusion: Personal liberty cannot be curtailed unless the statutory forms and safeguards governing remand are strictly observed.

Ratio Decidendi: In habeas corpus, detention must be justified by a valid and subsisting legal authority on the date of return, and a remand order must strictly comply with the statutory requirements authorising custody.

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