NEW DELHI: Holding that forcing a person to stay out of a city or district affects freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, SC on Monday ruled that a govt cannot pass an externment order routinely and must pass a reasoned order to justify such harsh measures.A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu quashed an externment order passed by Raigarh district magistrate directing a person to remove himself from the district and contiguous districts for one year. The order was passed against him as multiple criminal cases were pending and the district authority apprehended that his presence would create further problems in the area and nearby districts.“An order of externment directly impinges upon valuable fundamental freedoms guaranteed to a citizen and, therefore, cannot be made as a matter of routine. Further, merely because multiple criminal cases have been filed against a person would not, ipso facto, be a ground for ordering externment,” the bench said.Before exercising such power, the DM is required to arrive at a bona fide and informed subjective satisfaction that circumstances warrant such an extreme measure and externment is necessary, it said.
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The bench said the authority is not expected to render a judgement as a court of law but the order must nonetheless disclose, at least in broad terms, the reasons for such satisfaction. “The existence of objective material and a discernible nexus between such material and the conclusion reached are indispensable safeguards against arbitrary exercise of power,” it said.Quashing the order under Chhattisgarh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, SC said the externment order fell short of statutory requirement. “The order does not indicate the material on the basis of which such conclusion was reached. No reasons are forthcoming to demonstrate why the third respondent (Raipur DM) considered the situation grave enough to necessitate the appellant’s externment,” it said.
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