The High Court allowed bail to the applicant in a drug-related case involving Section 8/20 NDPS Act and 120B IPC, noting deficiencies in investigation and lack of corroborative evidence.
The applicant was released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties in like amounts to the satisfaction of the trial court.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
Court No. - 74
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 53529 of 2022
Applicant :- Shiv Sankar Alias Shankar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- M.P.S. Chauhan Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.
Personal affidavit filed on behalf of the State is taken on record.
By means of the bail application the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case Crime No. 124 of 2022 at Police Station- Achhnera, District- Agra under Section 8/20 NDPS Act and 120B IPC. The applicant is in jail since 31.10.2022.
The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the learned trial court on 10.11.2022.
The following arguments made by Sri M.P.S. Chauhan, learned counsel on behalf of the applicant, which could not be satisfactorily refuted by Shri Deepak Kapoor, learned AGA from the record, entitle the applicant for grant of bail:
(1). The drugs were not recovered from the applicant.
(2). The only implicatory evidence against the applicant is the confessional statement of the co-accused Ashish Kumar and Balram made before the police authorities. The said statement insofar as it implicates the applicant is inadmissible.
(3). There is no evidence to connect the applicant with the drug transaction.
(4). Co-accused Ashish Kumar and Balram have already been enlarged on bail by this Court by order dated 16.7.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 24226 of 2022 and order dated 21.7.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 24316 of 2022.
(5). The case of the applicant stands on a better footing.
(6). Prosecution evidence does not connect the applicant with the offence.
(7). The applicant does not have any criminal history apart from the above case.
(8). The applicant is not a flight risk. The applicant being a law abiding citizen has always cooperated with the investigation and undertakes to cooperate with the court proceedings. There is no possibility of his influencing witnesses, tampering with the evidence or reoffending.
In the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed.
Let the applicant- Shiv Shankar alias Shankar be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number, on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court below. The following conditions
be imposed in the interest of justice:-
(i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness during the trial.
(ii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.
Before parting this Court would like to observe that the investigation was deficient in some manner. There is no investigation in regard to person who had loaded the Ganja in the forest area in the State of Orissa or the person who assisted in the crime at Raipur. There is no point in having an elaborate system of communication between States if such investigations are not taken to their logical end.
A copy of this order be communicated to the Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh by learned Government Advocate for appropriate action.
Order Date :- 6.2.2023 Kirti
Digitally signed by :- KIRTI SAHU High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the accused should be granted bail in a drug trafficking case involving only implicatory evidence.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
Shiv Sankar Alias Shankar
Ajay Bhanot
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
