Writ Petition Challenging Externment Order Dismissed for Failure to Exhaust Alternative Statutory Remedy Under Section 9.

The petitioner, a lineman by profession, was served with an Externment Order dated 05.02.2026 by the District Magistrate, Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara

The order banished the petitioner from the limits of Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara and nine neighboring districts for a period of one year

The petitioner challenged this order before the High Court of Chhattisgarh, seeking to quash the order on the grounds that it violated his fundamental rights to movement and livelihood under Articles 19(1)(d) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India

1. Whether the writ petition is maintainable when an alternative statutory remedy is available under the governing Act

2. Whether the petitioner should be permitted to re-enter the restricted revenue limits to resume professional duties

Section 9 of the Chhattisgarh Rajya Suraksha Adhiniyam, 1990 (State Security Act)

This provision mandates that any person aggrieved by an order of externment passed under Sections 3, 4, or 5 may file an appeal to the State Government within thirty days of the order.

The Section further stipulates that such appeals should ideally be decided within four months [para 5(1)] and that the impugned order remains in operation during the pendency of the appeal unless otherwise directed.

The Court observed that the petitioner sought to bypass the statutory mechanism provided for challenging externment orders.

Upon reviewing the text of Section 9 of the Adhiniyam 1990, the Court found that the legislature has provided a specific, time-bound appellate remedy to the State Government for persons aggrieved by the District Magistrate's orders.

Since the petitioner was challenging an order dated 05.02.2026 (falling under the scope of the Act), the Court determined that the existence of this alternative efficacious remedy precluded the need for the High Court’s interference under its writ jurisdiction at this stage.

The petition was disposed of with liberty reserved for the petitioner to avail himself of the alternative statutory remedy (filing an appeal to the State Government) as provided under Section 9 of the Adhiniyam 1990.