Petitioner sought regular bail in a prosecution for offences under the Arms Act and NDPS Act for possession of a pistol and 1.972 Kg of charas. The High Court held that recovery of commercial quantity barred bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act and rejected the petition.
Relief of regular bail dismissed; petitioner remains in custody.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.10561 of 2022
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-629 Year-2021 Thana- TURKAULIYA District- East Champaran
====================================================== RUPAM SINGH @ CHHOTAN SINGH Son of Mukul Singh @ Nand Kishore Singh Resident of Village- Raghunathpur, P.s.- Turakoliya (Raghunathpur), District- East Champaran, Bihar.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
THE STATE OF BIHAR
... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Vikash Kumar Pankaj For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Binod Kumar ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE CHANDRA PRAKASH SINGH
ORAL ORDER
7 10-10-2022
Learned counsel for the petitioner is permitted to remove defect (s), as pointed out by the office, if any, within a period of four weeks on resumption of physical mode.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.P.P for the State.
The petitioner has preferred this application for grant of regular bail in a case registered under sections 25(1-B)(a), 26 and 35 of the Arms Act and 8 and 20(b)(ii)(C) of the NDPS Act.
As per the prosecution case, one country-made pistol with two live cartridges and 1.972 Kg of Charas were recovered from the house of the petitioner during the course of raid.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.10561 of 2022(7) dt.10-10-2022 2/3
the petitioner is innocent and has falsely been implicated in this case. Nothing has been recovered from the conscious possession of the petitioner. The Seizure list has been prepared before the lodging of the FIR. Learned counsel has further submitted that the house from which the seized articles were recovered does not belong to the petitioner. The petitioner is accused in four other criminal cases as stated in para 3 of the bail petition. The petitioner is in custody since 12.08.2021.
Learned A.P.P. for the State has vehemently opposed the bail petition of the petitioner by submitting the seized contraband is commercial quantity that is 1.972 Kg of Charas and the bar of Section 37 of the NDPS Act would apply in this case.
As per Section 37 of the N.D.P.S. Act, the two conditions are that the Court should be satisfied with :-
(i) There are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence; and
(ii) He is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
If either of these two conditions is not satisfied, the bar operates and the accused cannot be released on bail. This Court is of the opinion that the parameters of bail available
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.10561 of 2022(7) dt.10-10-2022 3/3
under Section 37 of the Act have not satisfied in the facts of the instant case.
The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Narcotics Control Bureau v. Mohit Aggarwal 2022 SCC OnLine SC 891 has held that “ The length of the period of his custody or the fact that the charge-sheet has been filed and the trial has commenced are by themselves not considerations that can be treated as persuasive grounds for granting relief to the respondent under Section 37 of the N.D.P.S. Act .”
Considering the aforesaid facts, circumstances and the recovery of commercial quantity of the seized contraband from th conscious possession of the petitioner, I am not inclined to enlarge this petitioner above-named on bail.
Learned Trial Court is directed to expedite the trial and conclude the same preferably within 9 months.
The bail petition stands rejected.
(Chandra Prakash Singh, J)
niku/-
U T
2 issues framed by the court
Whether bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act should be granted where commercial quantity of contraband was recovered.
Whether the facts of the instant case satisfy the conditions specified under Section 37 of the NDPS Act.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Narcotics Control Bureau v. Mohit AggarwalReferred¶24
Narcotics Control Bureau v. Mohit Aggarwal 2022 SCC OnLine SC 891 · Who else cites this
3 provisions across 3 enactments
Rupam Singh @ Chhotan Singh
The State of Bihar
Chandra Prakash Singh
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
