Bombay High Court sets aside externment order against woman, citing technical flaw

By Vidya: The Bombay High Court has reversed an externment order against a woman from Mumbai, ruling that the issuing authority's order lacked a crucial element stating that witnesses were hesitant to come forward and provide evidence against her due to safety concerns.

Justice Sarang Kotwal presided over the case involving Anuradha Salve, who faced seven registered cases, including six non-cognisable offenses such as child sexual abuse and extortion. Salve, a 50-year-old social worker, claimed that these cases were filed against her by friends and family members of a man she had taken action against for peeping into neighborhood houses in the Shahunagar area.

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The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone V, considered four cases registered against Salve between 2018 and 2022 at Shahunagar police station in Mumbai. Based on these cases, an externment order for one year and three months was issued against her on July 14. Salve appealed to the Divisional Commissioner, Konkan Division, but her appeal was rejected, prompting her to approach the High Court.

Salve's lawyer, Ganesh Gupta, argued in court that the externing authority did not record the required subjective satisfaction, as mandated by law, and that witnesses were unwilling to testify against the petitioner. Under the Maharashtra Police Act, two essential conditions must be fulfilled before an externment order is passed.

The first condition is that the person must be involved in the commission of offences involving force or violence, or about to be involved in such offences. The second condition is that, in the opinion of the Competent Authority, witnesses are unwilling to come forward and testify in public against the person due to apprehensions about their safety or property.

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The court noted that the authority had observed that Salve had caused alarm in the locality where she resided by committing offenses. The authority stated that serious offenses were registered against her and that her presence posed a threat to law and order and public interest in the area.

However, Justice Kotwal pointed out that the externing authority did not record any subjective satisfaction regarding witnesses' reluctance to testify due to safety concerns.

Based on this omission, the court quashed and set aside the orders passed against Salve, allowing her to be relieved of the externment order.

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