Bail application under Section 483 BNSS dismissed. The High Court rejected the plea citing the accused's status as a habitual offender with two pending similar cases and distinguished cited Supreme Court precedent as inapplicable to this stage.
Bail prayer of the accused applicant is not allowed at this stage.
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.
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GAHC040014902026
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) (ITANAGAR BENCH)
Case No. : BA/89/2026
Miss Ashmina Khatun
Daughter of Md Asmat Ali, presently residing at Near Helipad Colony, A Sector, Naharlagun, PO and PS Naharlagun, Papum Pare District, Arunachal Pradesh. 791110
VERSUS
The State of AP represented by the Special PP
Advocate for the Petitioner : Duyu Nimey, Mudang Doilyang,Dusu Pullo
Advocate for the Respondent : P P of AP,
-BEFORE
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ANJAN MONI KALITA ORDER
16.09.2026
Heard Mr. D. Nimey, learned counsel appearing for the accused applicant and Mr. T. Ete, learned Addl. PP for the State.
2. This is an application under Section 483 of the BNSS, 2023 praying for granting bail to the accused, namely, Shri Asmat Ali, who was
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arrested by the Police of Naharlagun Police Station in connection with Naharlagun P.S. Case No.92/2026 under Section 21(b)/27/29 of the NDPS Act, 1985 arising out of FIR dated 28.07.2026.
3. An FIR was lodged before the Officer-in-Charge of Naharlagun Police Station on 28.07.2026 by one Vivek Linggi, SI alleging that on 28.07.2026 at around 1938 hours on receipt of a verbal information from a reliable source that a drugs peddler, namely, Md. Atikul Islam residing at Harekmaal Basti, Model Village, Naharlagun is in possession of contraband substances. Thereafter, the Police team identified the rented house occupied by the alleged drugs peddler and conducted a raid in the said rented house. The Police team apprehended Md. Atikul Islam and recovered a black polythene containing a red coloured cylindrical container and two vials containing suspected heroin weighing 13.69 grams in total, including weight of the containers along with an empty plastic vial kept hidden between tin walls inside the kitchen.
4. It is stated in the FIR that the aforesaid Md. Atikul Islam disclosed that he procured the said seized contraband substance from one habitual peddler, namely, Md. Asmot Ali of Laluk, Lakhimpur, Assam.
5. On receipt of the FIR, the Police registered Naharlagun P.S. Case No. 92/2026 registered under the aforementioned sections.
6. The learned counsel appearing for the accused applicant submits that the accused applicant is nowhere linked to the aforesaid seizure. He
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submits that only on the basis of the statement made by Md. Atikul Islam, the accused applicant has been arrested by the Police on suspicion i.e. on 15.08.2026. He submits that only on the basis of statement of the coaccused and or a confessional statement by him which is not admissible under the law, a case cannot be made out against him. He further submits that there was no quantity of contraband materials recovered from his possession and therefore, taking into account the aforesaid fact, the accused applicant should be granted bail, at this stage.
7. On the other hand, Mr. T. Ete, learned Addl. PP for the State submits that the accused is a habitual offender having 2 (two) other cases of similar nature involving of allegation of peddling of narcotics drugs, which are pending against the accused applicant. He submits that the accused applicant being a habitual offender should not be granted any relief, at this stage.
8. The Case Diary in the instant case has been produced before this Court and the same is perused.
9. On consideration of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the respective parties as well as the materials available in the Case Diary and also taking into account the criminal antecedents of the accused applicant, this Court is not inclined to grant any relief to the accused applicant, at this stage.
10. The learned counsel appearing for the accused applicant has referred
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to the case of Prabhakar Tewari -vs- State of U.P. & Anr. (Criminal Appeal No. 152 of 2020) (arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 9207/2019) to support his submissions that the criminal antecedents may not be looked into while considering the bail prayer of the accused applicant.
11. This Court has considered the aforesaid case law decided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and this Court is of the considered view that, at this stage, the aforesaid case may not be of any help to the accused applicant as the case relates to cancellation of bail before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
In terms of the aforesaid observation, this instant Bail Application is disposed of.
JUDGE
Digitally signed CHECKED & VERIFIED by Talom Tali Date: 2026.09.16 17:10:01 +05'30'
2 issues framed by the court
Whether bail should be granted to the accused charged with narcotics peddling despite pending similar cases.
Whether the accused's pending criminal antecedents affect the bail application.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Prabhakar Tewari vs. State of U.P. & Anr.Distinguished¶10
Prabhakar Tewari -vs- State of U.P. & Anr. (Criminal Appeal No. 152 of 2020)
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Miss Ashmina Khatun
The State of AP
Anjan Moni Kalita
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
