MADURAI: The additional advisory board to validate Goondas Act cases was inaugurated in Madurai on Monday. Retired judge Kamaluddin Nazeerulla Basha will be the chairman of the board and judges Aruna Jagadeesan and S Ananthi will be members.
Speaking to reporters Basha said the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court played a major role in establishing the board in Madurai and the state government acted quickly in arranging everything for its functioning.
Stating the purpose of the board in Madurai, Basha said it is difficult for police to transfer a detainee from Kanniyakumari to Chennai. To avoid such difficulties, the board has been established in Madurai, which covers 20 districts, including Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Karur, Tiruchy, Ariyalur, Nagapattinam, Perambalur, Tiruvarur, and ten southern districts.
Explaining the process, Basha said police will request the detaining authority (collector/commissioner of police) to issue orders for detention under the Goondas Act to prevent the detainee from committing the crime again, breaching public order, or being a habitual offender.
They then will produce the detained person before the board. The board ensures the detainee understands why they are being detained under the act so that they can challenge it. “We can either dismiss the detention order or accept it, which will be conveyed to the state government.
The board will check all aspects, including whether the detention is legal or against the law. Once detention is confirmed, the accused will remain in prison for a year without bail from the date the detention order is passed,” he said.