Rahim Chowdhury and Anr. Vs State of West Bengal — Narcotics (NDPS) | Calcutta HC (2026)

Rahim Chowdhury and Anr. Vs State of West Bengal — Narcotics (NDPS) | Calcutta HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Release of petitioners Rahim Chowdhury and Goutam Adhikary on bail upon bond of Rs. 20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs. 10,000/- each (one local), to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under NDPS Act, Krishnagar, Nadia; conditional on physical presence before the Special Court on every date and no exit from Nadia district without prior permission.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioners, in custody for more than seven months in a case under Sections 20(b)(ii)(c) of the NDPS Act involving alleged recovery of 20.726 kg of ganja from their joint possession and against whom the charge-sheet has been submitted, should be released on bail.

Court's answer

Considering the charge-sheet (13 prosecution witnesses proposed) and the time the prosecution will require to conclude the trial, further detention of the petitioners is unwarranted and the prayer for bail is allowed.

Ratio / Principle

The petitioners (Rahim Chowdhury and Goutam Adhikary) are to be released on bail on a bond of Rs. 20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs. 10,000/- each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under NDPS Act, Krishnagar, Nadia.

Key takeaways

Bail is conditioned on the petitioners remaining physically present before the learned Special Court on each and every date and not leaving the jurisdiction of the District of Nadia without the prior permission of the learned Special Court.ratio¶12

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail allowed (02.04.2026, Tirthankar Ghosh, J.) in CRM (NDPS) 536 of 2026, an application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 / Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 by Rahim Chowdhury and Goutam Adhikary, accused in Bhimpur Police Station Case No. 224 of 2025 (dated 20.08.2025) under Sections 20(b)(ii)(c) of the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, after alleged recovery of 20.726 kg of ganja from their joint possession. With the charge-sheet already submitted (prosecution proposing to rely on 13 witnesses) and custody exceeding seven months, the Court held further detention unwarranted and released the petitioners on bail on a bond of Rs. 20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs. 10,000/- each (one local), to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under NDPS Act, Krishnagar, Nadia, conditioning bail on appearance before the Special Court on every date and no departure from Nadia district without its prior permission.

02.04.2026 Court No.35. D/L.63. Rakib (Allowed)

CRM (NDPS) 536 of 2026

In Re: An Application for Bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973/Under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 in connection with Bhimpur Police Station case no. 224 of 2025 dated 20.08.2025 under Sections 20(b)(ii)(c) of the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

And

In the matter of : Rahim Chowdhury & Anr.

……Petitioners. Mr. Prabir Majumder Mr. Snehanshu Majumder Ms. Sangeeta Chakraborty ……for the Petitioners. Mr. Sanjay Bardhan Ms. Rita Datta ……for the State.

Learned advocate appearing for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are in custody for more than seven months and there has been recovery allegedly from the joint possession of the petitioners of 20.726 kg of ganja. Charge-sheet has already been submitted, as such further detention of the petitioner is unwarranted.

Learned advocate for the State opposes the prayer for bail and submits that the seizure was videographed in presence of independent witnesses and next date fixed for consideration of charges.

I have taken into account the charge-sheet wherein the prosecution proposes to rely upon 13 witnesses. Having considered that some time will be required by the prosecution to conclude the trial, I am of the view that further detention of the petitioners is unwarranted. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioners is allowed.

2

Accordingly, petitioners namely, Rahim Chowdhury and Goutam Adhikary shall be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only) each, with two sureties of Rs. 10,000 (Rupees Ten Thousand only) each, one of whom must be local to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under NDPS Act, Krishnagar, Nadia.

If on bail, the petitioners shall be physically present before the learned Special Court on each and every date and shall not leave the jurisdiction of District of Nadia without the prior permission of the learned Special Court.

Accordingly, CRM (NDPS) 536 of 2026 is allowed.

All parties shall act in terms of server copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court.

Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities.

(Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)