Manipur High Court: A Bench of Lanusungkum Jamir and Kh. Nobin Singh, JJ., released Kishorchandra Wangkhem, the 39-year old journalist who was detained under the National Security Act, 1980 for criticising the Government through Facebook posts.
At about 2 pm on 27-11-2018, Kishorchandra was picked up by some unidentified persons on Police uniform and brought to Imphal Police Station where he was detained for about 5 hours. On the same day, a detention order under NSA was passed against him by the District Magistrate, and he was taken to Manipur Central Jai, Sajiwa, where he had been lodged since.
S. Chitranjan, Advocate led arguments on behalf of Kishorchandra and challenged his detention under NSA as illegal and unlawful contending that he did not get a chance for making an effective representation against his detention. Per contra, N. Kumarajit, Advocate General of Manipur and S. Suresh, Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India supported the detention order.
The primacy issue in focus was: whether the detention order date 27.22.2018 stood vitiated due to non-supply of the picture with captions alleged to have been posted by the petitioner on his Facebook wall on 7.8.2018 and non-supply of the duplicate copy of the CD containing four video clips relied on by the DM, thereby preventing the petitioner from making an effective representation before the concerned authority?
The High Court found that the pictures in controversy and the CD concerned, which found mention in the ‘grounds of detention’ were not supplied to Kishorchandra. This, as per the Court, prevented the petitioner from making an effective representation against his detention. The Court said: “We have, therefore, no hesitation to come to the conclusion that non-furnishing of the pictures with copies alleged to have been posted by the petitioner on his Facebook wall on 7-8-2018 and compact disc containing four video clips, vitiates the very detention order dated 27-11-2018.”
In such view of the matter, the writ petition filed by Kishorchandra Wangkhem was allowed and the detention order passed against him under the National Security Act was set aside. He was directed to be set at liberty forthwith unless wanted in other cases. [Kishorchandra Wangkhem v. State of Manipur, WP (Crl.) No. 18 of 2018, dated 04-03-2019]
