Preventive detention invalidated for non-placement of a relevant Customs show cause notice before the detaining authority.

Preventive detention was held to be vitiated where a pre-detention show cause notice under the Customs Act, alleging smuggling and dealing in smuggled goods, was not placed before the detaining authority. That notice was a relevant document because it bore directly on whether detention was necessary to prevent the keeping of smuggled goods. Without that material, the authority could not consider the full basis on which adjudication proceedings had commenced, and its subjective satisfaction was formed without all relevant documents. The detention order was therefore invalid and liable to be struck down.

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Issues: Whether the detention order was vitiated because a relevant show cause notice issued under the Customs Act was not placed before the detaining authority.

Analysis: The show cause notice concerned allegations of smuggling and dealing in smuggled goods and had been issued before the impugned detention order. It was a relevant document bearing on the question whether preventive detention was required to prevent keeping of smuggled goods. Since the detaining authority was not furnished with that material, it could not consider the precise basis on which adjudication proceedings had commenced, and its satisfaction under the preventive detention law was formed without all relevant documents.

Conclusion: The detention order was invalid and liable to be struck down.

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