This is an application filed by the detenu, Mr. H. K. Bhattacharyya, who is at present lodged in the Silchar Jail, for transfer from Silchar Jail to Gauhati Jail. The main grounds for the transfer are : (1) His ordinary place of residence is at Gauhati. His relatives as well as family members' and friends who are residing at Gaubati are unable to visit him, as his present place of detention is at Silchar which is far off from Gauhati. With the present financial status, it will not be possible for his wife and the children to visit him even once. Moreover, the communication between Silchar and Gauhati is very bad. (2) He is facing difficulty in consulting his lawyers who are all stationed at Gauhati in connection with his Habeas Corpus petition. (3) He is heart patient under the constant treatment of Dr. Anandeswar Borthakur and Prof. Deva Bhattacharyya. He is not having the services of these doctors. He has not got the opportunity to see his old father who is aged about 85 years. (4) He is not being supplied with Assamese food at Silchar Jail. The petition placed before us on 22.2.83 was taken up in presence of the learned counsel of both the parties. The learned Govt. Advocate was given time to take instruction from the Government. As ordered, it was placed on 23.2.83; and on that day, learned Govt. Advocate took further time till 28.2.83. In the application, it may be stated that he also prayed for being given the status of Class I in the Jail. The Court was informed that the detenu has been given the status of First class detenu as prayed for. In regard to the transfer from Silchar Jail to Gauhati Jail, an affidavit was filed on 1.3.83 by the Commissioner and Secretary, Home and Political Deptt., Govt. of Assam, stating, inter alia that Government is prepared to issue necessary instructions to the Jail authority at Silchar to render all necessary assistance to the petitioner including preparint of Assamese food to the detenu as far as possible, but Government expressed administrative inconveniences and difficulties, in regard to the transfer of the detenu from Silchar jail to Gauhati jail for two reasons as mentioned at para 4 of the counter affidavit, viz (a) at present the security prisoners are kept in one hall inside the Gauhati jail campus. There is no separate enclosure around this hall and as such it is not possible to segregate the security detenu from mixing with other convicts, and (b) due to frequent sitting of the Advisory Board constituted under the National Security Act, 1980 at Gauhati, security prisoners from all over Assam had to be brought in batches and lodged temporarily in Gauhati jail for their appearance before the Advisory Board. As a result, the Gauhati jail has remained overcrowded practically everyday. So, it will not be convenient to provide all necessary facilities to a detenu of Class I status in the overcrowded jail. The affidavit of the Government, however, states that so far as the Nowgong Special Jail, the only other jail nearer his place of residence is concerned, the Government has to fully ascertain the total population of jail inmates and the security prisoners and as such the deponent was not in a position to make comment regarding his accommodation along with other facilities which could be made available in the Nowgong Special Jail. In short the Government resisted the transfer of the detenu from Silchar Jail to Gauhati Jail solely on the two grounds mentioned above. An affidavit-in-reply is filed on behalf of the detenu by his brother, Shri Indra Kumar Bhattacharyya, to the effect that what is stated in the affidavit filed by the respondent about the accom­modation in the Gauhati Central Jail is not factually correct. It is averred in para 3 of the affidavit that there is a separate building for keeping the security detenus in the Gauhati jail and the said building is completely separated from the buildings where the prisoners are kept; and this position is also same in the Silchar jail. He further states that in the Silchar District Jail also, there is a separate building for keeping the security prisoner inside the jail compound and it is possible to mix up with other convicts. In regard to the alleged overcrowding, necessary details have been mentioned in para 40 of the writ petition. He further states that in the Silchar District Jail also, there is a separate building for keeping the security prisoner inside the jail compound and it is possible to mix up with other convicts. In regard to the alleged overcrowding, necessary details have been mentioned in para 40 of the writ petition. According to the deponent, in the Gauhati jail there are only 12 security pri­soners as on 1.3.83 out of whom one person has been released on parole, and the building in which the security prisoners are kept is a very big building and not less than 30 persons can easily be accommodated in the said building and want of accom­modation is nothing but a plea just to keep the detenu in Silchar jail as a punitive measure. In view of the affidavit filed on behalf of the detenu we gave the learned Govt. Advocate further time upto 2 P.M. today (2.3.83) announcing that we would pass order after recess, but he has been able to give us any further detail. We have given our anxious consideration to the circums­tances and the facts placed before us. We are not satisfied that refusal on the part of the Govt. to transfer the detenu from Silchar jail to Gauhati jail is just and reasonable. The Government has failed to satisfy us that it would create real administrative inconvenience involving as well safety and security of the detenu, in case he is kept at the District Jail, Gauhati. The Govt. has not made out a case as an exception to keep him at the Silchar Jail, depriving him of the facilities which he is entitled to, if kept at the Gauhati District Jail. It has been laid down by the Supreme Court in A.K. Roy vs. Union, AIR 1982 SC 710 , at page 740: "that the detenu will be kept in detention in a place which is within the environs of his or her ordinary place of residence.. ..Besides, keeping a person in detention in a place other than the one where he habitually resides makes it impossible for his friends and relatives to meet him or for the detenu to claim the advantage of facilities like having his own food. ..Besides, keeping a person in detention in a place other than the one where he habitually resides makes it impossible for his friends and relatives to meet him or for the detenu to claim the advantage of facilities like having his own food. The requirements of adminis­trative convenience, safety and security may justify in a given case the transfer of a detenu to a place other than that where he ordinarily resides, but that can only be by way of an exception and not as a matter of general rule." We have considered the matter from all aspects consistently also with human dignity. We do not find any reason as to why the detenu should not be transferred from Silchar jail to Gauhati jail as prayed for. We accordingly direct the respondent to transfer the detenu (Shri H. K. Bhattacharyya) from Silchar jail to Gauhati jail within 3(three) days from to-day. The petition is allowed.