Unexplained delay in executing detention order and failure to follow absconding-person procedure rendered detention unsustainable.

Detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act was held unsustainable where the detenu was arrested only after several months and the authorities failed to show compliance with the statutory procedure for an absconding person. The Court noted that Section 7 requires prescribed steps, including proclamation-type measures, when a person has absconded or is concealing himself, and no meaningful effort to execute the order or invoke that machinery was demonstrated. The unexplained delay and non-observance of statutory safeguards rendered the further detention illegal.

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Issues: Whether the further detention of the detenu was illegal for non-execution of the detention order with unexplained delay and for failure to comply with the procedure prescribed for an absconding person.

Analysis: The detention order was passed under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, but the detenu was arrested only several months later. The statutory procedure under Section 7, which enables the Government to proceed against a person who has absconded or is concealing himself by resort to proclamation-type measures and other prescribed steps, was not shown to have been followed. The Court distinguished the cases relied upon by the State because, unlike those matters, no meaningful steps were taken here to execute the order or to invoke the statutory machinery for absconding persons. The unexplained delay and the absence of compliance with the statutory safeguards rendered the detention unsustainable.

Conclusion: The further detention was illegal and the detention order could not be sustained.

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