Preventive detention under COFEPOSA was quashed for reliance on irrelevant material and non-application of mind.

A preventive detention order under COFEPOSA was held vitiated where the detaining authority relied on material with no rational nexus to the alleged prejudicial activity. The record showed dependence on documents concerning return of goods, newspaper reports, jail facilities, and transfer between jails, none of which were pertinent or proximate to the statutory purpose. Because subjective satisfaction in preventive detention must rest on relevant, probative material, reliance on extraneous documents amounted to non-application of mind and rendered the detention illegal.

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Issues: Whether the detention order under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 was vitiated because the detaining authority relied on irrelevant documents and thereby failed to apply its mind.

Analysis: The detention was founded on a subjective satisfaction under preventive detention law, but such satisfaction must be based on pertinent and proximate material having rational probative value. The detention record showed reliance on applications and documents connected with return of goods, newspaper reporting, jail facilities, and transfer from one jail to another. These materials did not bear on the petitioner's alleged prejudicial activities and were extraneous to the statutory purpose. Reliance on such irrelevant material amounted to non-application of mind and vitiated the subjective satisfaction underlying the detention order.

Conclusion: The detention order was illegal and liable to be quashed.

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