In Brief
The State of Manipur appealed the High Court's decision setting aside a preventive detention order under the NDPS Act, 1988. The detained person challenged the detention arguing that legible copies of documents relied upon by the detaining authority were not supplied to him, denying his right to effective representation. The Supreme Court held that supply of legible copies of documents relied upon by the detaining authority is fundamental to ensuring an effective representation under Article 22(5) of the Constitution. The Court dismissed the appeals, confirming that deprivation of legible documents violates this constitutional right and renders the detention order illegal, regardless of whether the objection was raised before the detaining authority.
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