Karnataka HC admonishes State authorities for externment of persons in blatant ignorance of law
The High Court of Karnataka has admonished the authorities of the State government for consistently passing orders of externment of persons by “blatantly and blissfully ignoring” the provisions of the Karnataka Police (KP) Act, 1963, and in deliberate violation of the directions issued in a series judgements by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Making it clear that “Any repetition in passing externment orders in violation of the law and deliberate defiance to the directions issued by the courts would fringe on the borders of contumacious contempt on the part of the State, and would be viewed seriously,” the High Court directed the Chief Secretary to notify all the authorised officers to ensure strict compliance to the laws and the orders of the courts while passing orders of externment.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while quashing an order of externment of one Sachin M.R. under Section 55 of the KP Act by the Assistant Commissioner (AC), Mysuru district, based on a report submitted by the Deputy Superintendent of
Police, Mysuru.
Pointing out that provisions of the law was blatantly and blissfully ignored by the authorities in the present case, the High Court said that “the show cause notice issued to the petitioner appears to be a farce and issued only for the purpose of a make believe compliance of the statute, not to afford any opportunity, in real time, to the petitioner”.
Pointing out that there are several procedural safeguards in the KP Act for passage of an order of externment, the High Court said: “It is trite that procedural safeguards are the lifeblood of liberty, which cannot be treated or taken away in the manner that it is done in the present case.”
Right to movement
Citing apex court’s verdict that externment is not an ordinary measure and must be resorted to sparingly, only in extraordinary circumstances, as an order of externment takes away the fundamental right of movement under Article 19 (1)(d) of the Constitution, the High Court said that authorities passing of externment orders in violation of the law amounts to abuse of the power resulting in mushrooming of petitions in the courts against such illegal orders.
In the present case, the petitioner had three criminal cases pending against him though not convicted in any of them, and he was on March 20 initally externed to Davanagere and later to Tumakuru without following the procedure laid down in KP Act and the directions of the courts.