The court granted bail to the petitioner accused under the NDPS Act, noting the absence of seized narcotics and his co-operation with the investigation despite no other corroborative incriminating material.
Release of petitioner on bail with bond of Rs.10,000/- and two sureties of like amount along with standard conditions.
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07.12.2022 15 Allowed
C.R.M. (NDPS) No. 1452 of 2022
In Re:- An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with NCB Crime No. 05/NCB/KOL/2022 under Section 8(c ) read with Sections 21(c )/29 of the NDPS Act.
And
In Re : Md. Khan Shah @ Furkhan ...… petitioner
Mr. Soubhik Mitter Ms. Rajnandini Das ..…for the petitioner Mr. Anirban Mitra .…for the NCB
Heard the learned Counsels appearing for the parties.
Petitioner is in custody for 258 days. No narcotics was seized from him. Though CDRs (Call Data Records) show telephonic communications between the petitioner and the coaccused, no other incriminating material corroborating the charge of conspiracy is placed before us. Petitioner co-operated with investigation. His statement under Section 67 of the NDPS Act was recorded but the statement is inadmissible in law. Under such circumstances, petitioner appears to have rebutted the statutory restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act and as he co-operated during investigation, we are inclined to release him on bail.
Accordingly we direct that the petitioner viz. Md. Khan Shah @ Furkhan shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000/- with two sureties of like amount each, one
2
of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under NDPS Act, Krishnagar, Nadia, subject to further condition that he shall not leave the territorial jurisdiction of the said police station without the leave of the Court or the Magistrate and shall meet the Officer-in-Charge of the Police Station concerned once in a week until further orders.Petitioner shall appear before the trial court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate the witnesses and/or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever.
In the event the petitioner fails to appear before the trial court without justifiable cause, the trial court shall be at liberty to cancel his bail in accordance with law without further reference to this Court.
The application for bail is, accordingly, allowed.
(Siddhartha Roy Chowdhury, J.) (Joymalya Bagchi, J.)
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner satisfies the conditions for bail despite statutory restrictions under the NDPS Act given his lack of incriminating possession and co-operation.
The appropriate conditions to be imposed upon the release of the petitioner on bail including surety requirements and territorial restrictions.
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Md. Khan Shah @ Furkhan
NCB
Siddhartha Roy Chowdhury
Joymalya Bagchi
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
