Madras High Court Warns Against Reckless Use of Goondas Act, Says Personal Liberty Cannot Be Curtailed Without Legal Basis

The Madras High Court has quashed a preventive detention order issued under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, 1982 (Goondas Act), holding that the allegations against a Chennai-based real estate developer involved issues of ordinary criminal law and did not amount to a threat to public order. The Court emphasised that preventive detention cannot be invoked merely because serious criminal offences are alleged.

The case arose from complaints alleging cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and property-related fraud in connection with a residential housing project. According to the prosecution, apartments booked by purchasers were subsequently transferred and mortgaged, causing substantial financial losses to the complainants. Relying on these allegations, authorities detained the developer as a “Goonda” under the preventive detention statute.

Allowing the habeas corpus petition, a Division Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan and Justice V. Lakshminarayanan reiterated the settled distinction between “law and order” and “public order.” The Court observed that the alleged acts affected only identifiable individuals involved in contractual and property transactions and did not disturb public tranquillity or the even tempo of society. Consequently, the statutory requirement for preventive detention was not satisfied.

The Bench further found that the materials relied upon by the detaining authority were stale, with the underlying transactions dating back several years. Holding that no live and proximate link existed between the alleged conduct and any present necessity for detention, the Court quashed the detention order and cautioned against the reckless exercise of preventive detention powers, which directly impact personal liberty.