Case brief
What is this about?
Orissa High Court (Cuttack), BLAPL No. 8880 of 2024, decided 18.09.2024 by Dr. Justice S.K. Panigrahi — bail rejected under the NDPS Act. Key terms: Sections 20(b)(ii)(c) NDPS Act; Section 37(1) statutory bar to bail; seizure of 418 Kgs. 80 grams of ganja in 18 jari bags from Bolero Pick Up AP-31-TC 3747 (Machhakund P.S. Case No.78 of 2019, T.R. No.39(A) of 2019, Special Judge, Koraput); prior interim bail in BLAPL No.1937 of 2020 (order dated 26.05.2020) and failure to surrender counted against the accused; defence plea of false implication and lack of conscious possession noted but rejected; bail application dismissed. No precedents cited; no costs or monetary quantum.
What did the court decide?
Considering the nature and gravity of the accusation, the character of the evidence against the petitioner, the petitioner's conduct in defying this Court's order (non-surrender after interim bail), and the statutory bar under Section 37(1) of the NDPS Act, the Court found it not possible to record the satisfaction that there are reasonable grounds for believing the petitioner not guilty of the offence or not likely to commit any such offence; the prayer for bail is devoid of merit and stands rejected.