IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA     CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

    CRIMINAL  APPEAL No.2056 OF 2008

            (Arising out of S.L.P.(CRL.)NO.6373/2007)                   

   REKHA UMESH SHETTY ...   Appellant(s)                         Versus    STATE OF MAHARASHTRA & ORS. ...  Respondent(s)

WITH CRIMINAL  APPEAL No.2096     OF 2008

  (Arising out of S.L.P.(CRL.)NO.8039 of 2007)                     

O R D E R

1 Leave granted.

2 These appeals which are directed against the order of  

Preventive Detention passed under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange  

and Prevention of  Smuggling Activities,  Act,  1974,(COFEPOSA Act)  are  

covered by our recent judgment in the case of  Deepak Bajaj Vs.  State of  

Maharashtra & Anr., reported in 2008 (14) SCALE-62.  In the said decision,  

we  had,  inter  alia,  held  that  in  the  event,  the  Detaining  Authority  was  

supplied with the confession made by the detenu, the subsequent statement  

of the detenu-co-detenu retracting such confession should also have been  

placed before the said Authority.   The facts of

this case are more or less similar to the facts involved in  Deepak Bajaj's  

case.   In this case also while the confession of the detenu(co-detenu) was  

placed before the Detaining Authority,  the retraction was not,  as will  be  

evident from paragraphs 19 and 20 of the order impugned in these appeals.

3 We,  therefore,  allow  the  appeals  and  quash  the  

detention orders dated 16th August, 2006 and 21st August, 2006 respectively.

                      ...................J.

                               (ALTAMAS KABIR)   

            ....................J.                         (MARKANDEY KATJU)           

New Delhi, December 17, 2008.