A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday upheld the detention of A.M. Jalal and P. Mohammed Shafi, accused in the diplomatic gold smuggling case, under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act,1974 (COFEPOSA).
The Bench, comprising Justice A.K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Muhammed Nias C.P., passed the verdict while dismissing the petitions filed by the spouses of the accused challenging the detention.
The Bench observed that that the detaining authority had acted entirely in accordance with the statutory purpose set out in Section 3 of the COFEPOSA Act while passing the detention orders. There had not been any shortcoming, let alone any illegality, while passing the orders.
Counsel’s arguments
Opposing the petitions, S. Manu, counsel for the Customs, submitted that there were several instances where the detenues had in the past indulged in smuggling. It was clearly admitted by them in the statements made before the Customs authority. Therefore, unless they were detained under the preventive detention law, they would further indulge in smuggling activities.
