High Court granted bail to a female accused in an NDPS case involving commercial quantity of ganja, relying on slow trial progress, non-flouting of interim bail conditions, and Supreme Court ratio in Mohd Muslim @ Hussain.
Petitioner released on bail by furnishing bail bond of Rs. 50,000 with two local solvent sureties.
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.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
BLAPL No.12507 of 2023
Sabitri Puta
.....
Petitioner
Ms. A. Ray, A dvocate
-versus-
State Of Odisha
.....
Opp. Party
Mr. Rajesh T ripathy, Addl. Standin g Counsel
CORAM: THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.K.SAHOO
ORDER
Order No.
03.04.2024
Heard lea r ned counsel for the petitioner an d learned counsel for the S tate.
This is an application under section 439 of C r.P.C. in connection wit h Kantamal P.S. Case No.60 of 2016 corresponding t o Spl. (NDPS) Case No.01 of 201 7 pending in the Court of learned Addl. Sessions Judge, B oudh for offence punish a ble under section 20(b)(ii)(C) of the N.D.P.S. Act.
The petiti o ner moved an application for b a il before the Court of learned Addl. Sessions Judge, Bou d h, which was rejected on 21.07.2023. Learned c ounsel for the petitioner submi t ted that
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the petitioner i s a lady and she was taken int o judicial custody on 08.07.2016 and earlier she was granted interim bail for a period of two months and the n interim bail for a perio d of three months and after av a iling the same, she sur r endered at right time. Learned counsel further submitted that in view of slow progress o f the trial and since she h a s not flouted the terms and con d itions of the interim b a il orders, the bail application of the petitioner may b e favourably considered.
Learned c o unsel for the State, on the ot h er hand, opposed the pr a yer for bail mainly on the ground that commercial quantity of ganja has been seized from the possession of t h e petitioner and the petitioner h as been charge sheeted for the offence under section 20(b)(ii)(C) of the N.D.P.S. Act. Learned counsel further s ubmitted that the petition e r has got no criminal antecedent.
As per or d er dated 18.12.2023, learned t r ial Court has submitted t he status report wherein it is m entioned that out of t w enty four charge sheeted w itnesses, seventeen witnesses have already been examine d and the trial is gettin g delayed for non-appearance of the informant, who was the S.I. of Police at Kanta m al police station in the year 2017.
Consideri n g the submissions made by th e learned counsel for the r espective parties, the period of d etention of the petitione r in judicial custody, slow progre s s of the
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trial, the condu c t of the petitioner in complying with the earlier interim b ail orders and keeping in view the ratio laid down by t h e Hon’ble Supreme Court in th e case of Mohd Muslim @ Hussain -Vrs.- State (NCT of Delhi) reported in 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 260 and further taking into account the proviso to section 437(1) of Cr.P.C., I am inclined to relea s e the petitioner on bail.
Let the petitioner be released on bai l in the aforesaid case on furnishing bail bond of Rs.50,000/(rupees fifty thousand) with two local solvent sureties each for the lik e amount to the satisfaction of th e learned Court in seisin over the matter with further t e rms and conditions as th e learned Court may deem just a n d proper including the conditions that she shall not indul g e in any criminal activiti e s and shall appear before the learned trial Court on each date to which the case would be posted for trial.
Violation of any of the conditions sh a ll entail cancellation of bail.
The BLAP L is accordingly disposed of. Issue urg e nt certified copy as per Rules.
( S.K. Sahoo) Judge
Sipun
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed Signed by: SIPUN BEHERA Designation: Senior Stenographer Reason: Authentication Location: HIGH COURT OF ORISSA, C UTT ACK Date: 04-Apr-2024 17:33:30
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1 issue framed by the court
Whether the petitioner is entitled to bail in an NDPS case involving commercial quantity given slow trial progress and interim bail compliance?
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Mohd Muslim @ Hussain v. State (NCT of Delhi)Relied on¶26
Mohd Muslim @ Hussain -Vrs.- State (NCT of Delhi) reported in 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 260
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Sabitri Puta
State Of Odisha
S.K. Sahoo
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
