In Brief
Gautam Jain challenged his detention order under the COFEPOSA Act, arguing it was based on a single composite ground (preventing prejudicial foreign exchange activities) supported by multiple instances, so the principle of severability should not apply. The Supreme Court held that the detention order rested on multiple independent grounds—distinct hawala transactions, searches at different premises, and statements of separate individuals—each constituting a separate basic fact. Even though documents relating to Pooran Chand Sharma's statement were not supplied, the remaining independent grounds were sufficient. The Court upheld Section 5A's severability principle, confirming that a detention order survives if other grounds remain valid.
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