Terming it as illegal, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday quashed a detention order issued against People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) member Yesurajan, who was arrested under the Goondas Act.

In a Habeas Corpus petition filed with the Madurai Bench, Thanga Sudha, Yesurajan’s wife, from Koodankulam, prayed that the court set aside the detention order passed by the Tirunelveli Collector.

In her petition, Thanga Sudha stated that based on a complaint from the Village Administrative Officer (VAO), the Koodankulam Police registered a case under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Public Properties Damage (TNPPDL) Act on September 10 last year. The Collector issued the detention order under the Goondas Act based on the case.

Xavier-Amma, the brave protester of Idinthakarai, was harassed by Police on September 10. She is still languishing in Jail under false charges.

The petitioner also said that the said offence was not mentioned in a booklet titled ‘Parvai Mahazar’ and ‘Attatchi’, an essential document to detain a person under Goondas Act.

Further, the detaining authority failed to supply the relevant documents, which had to be placed before the advisory board. The detaining authority stated that the detenue would come out of bail in two other cases filed by the Koodankulam police, if the bail was granted in the ground case. The petitioner contended that Yesurajan had not filed any bail application on any court.

She also said that as per the prison report, five cases were filed against him but the authorities failed to furnish details of the cases to the advisory board or to the accused. She contended that the detention order had not been approved in 12 days as required under Tamil Nadu prevention Act 1984.

Hearing the arguments, the Bench comprising Justices A Selvam and M Sathyanarayanan quashed the detention order invoking Goondas Act.