Allowed¶67

Rani Kaur v. State of Punjab

Punjab & Haryana HC8 May 2025CRM-M/15219/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Punjab & Haryana High Court (Sandeep Moudgil, J., 08.05.2025) allows CRM-M-15219-2025 and grants regular bail to Rani Kaur under S.439 Cr.P.C. in FIR No.16 dt.29.01.2025, PS City Sunam, Sangrur, under Ss.21/29/61/85 NDPS Act (20 g heroin, non-commercial). Grounds: custody 3m7d, challan 26.03.2025, charges 16.04.2025, 0/14 witnesses examined, speedy-trial right under Art.21. Relies on Dataram (2018(2) R.C.R.(Crl.) 131), Balwinder Singh (SLP(Crl.) 8523/2024) and Baljinder Singh alias Rock (CRM-M-25914-2022); antecedents/other cases not a bar. No opinion on merits.

What did the court decide?

Petitioner directed to be released on regular bail on furnishing bail and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial Court/Duty Magistrate concerned. ¶67

Rani Kaur Vs State of Punjab — Narcotics (NDPS) | Punjab & Haryana HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioner directed to be released on regular bail on furnishing bail and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial Court/Duty Magistrate concerned.

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner, arraigned under Sections 21/29/61/85 NDPS Act in FIR No.16 dated 29.01.2025 for 20 grams of heroin (non-commercial quantity), is entitled to regular bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C., given completed investigation, charges framed on 16.04.2025 and none of the 14 prosecution witnesses examined. +1 more

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Court's answer

Having regard to the custody period of 03 months and 07 days, the non-commercial nature of the alleged contraband, completion of investigation, framing of charges on 16.04.2025 with none of the 14 prosecution witnesses examined, the Court infers that conclusion of the trial shall take considerable time and detaining the petitioner behind bars for an indefinite period would serve no purpose; she is entitled to regular bail.

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Ratio / Principle

Right to speedy trial is a part of the reasonable, fair and just procedure enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and this constitutional right cannot be denied to the accused.

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Key takeaways

On the plea of the petitioner's involvement in multiple other cases, relying on this Court's order in Baljinder Singh alias Rock, the Court holds that strict adherence to the rule of denial of bail on account of pendency of other cases/convictions would in all probability land the petitioner in a situation of denial of the concession of bail.ratio¶61
Anything stated in the judgment shall not be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.obiter¶68

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail — Regular bail under S.439 Cr.P.C. — NDPS Act, Ss.21/29/61/85 — Alleged recovery of 20 grams heroin, non-commercial quantity — Petitioner in custody 03 months and 07 days; challan presented 26.03.2025; charges framed 16.04.2025; none of 14 prosecution witnesses examined — Trial to take considerable time; indefinite detention would serve no purpose — Grant of bail the rule, jail the exception (Dataram relied on) — Right to speedy trial part of fair, just and reasonable procedure under Article 21 — Pendency of other cases/criminal antecedents not to result in mechanical denial of bail (Balwinder Singh; Baljinder Singh alias Rock relied on) — Petition allowed; observations not an expression of opinion on merits.

CRM-M-15219-2025

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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CRM-M-15219-2025 DECIDED ON: 08.05.2025

RANI KAUR

.....PETITIONER

VERSUS

STATE OF PUNJAB

.....RESPONDENT

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MOUDGIL

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Present: Mr. Chahit Bansal, Advocate for the petitioner.

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Mr. Jasjit Singh Rattu, DAG, Punjab.

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SANDEEP MOUDGIL, J (ORAL)

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1. Relief sought

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The jurisdiction of this Court has been invoked under Section

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439 Cr.P.C. with a prayer for grant of regular bail to the petitioner in FIRNo.16 dated 29.01.2025 (Annexure P-1) Under Section 21/29/61/85 NDPS Act registered at Police station City Sunam, District Sangrur,

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Prosecution story setup in the present case as per the version in the FIR as under:-

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“To SHO, PS: City Sunam. Today ASI along with ASI Gursewak Singh 2537 along with HC Rajdeep Singh 377, L/SC Jaspreet Kaur 832 and PHG Saroop Singh 48088 on government vehicle bearing no. PB-65BG-4726 make Scorpio whose driver is PHG Rajinder Singh 374/11 along with laptop, Printer and Inverter and investigating kit were present at Anaj Mandi, Sunam for patrolling and checking of

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POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-15219-2025

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suspected persons. That at about 4.30 PM a secret information was received that Rani Kaur W/o Makhan Singh R/o Near Gaushala Bhai Mool Chand Road, Sunam, PS: City Sunam, Sangrur is habitual of selling heroin to her permanent customers. That today also Rani is coming to city sunam by walk through road from Village Neelowal and if raid be conducted on Neelowal Road, sunam then Rani Kaur W/o Makhan Singh R/o Near Gaushala Bhai Mool Chand Road can be apprehended with heavy quantity of heroin. Information is reliable and keeping and selling heroin by Rani Kaur W/o Makhan Singh attracts the offence u/s 21/61/85 NDPS Act.”

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3. Contentions

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On behalf of the petitioner

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Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case as nothing has been recovered from her conscious possession. He further contends that the quantity of alleged contraband i.e. 20 grams of heroin is non-commercial in nature. He further contends that the petitioner is in custody since 29.01.2025 and after completion of the investigation, challan stands presented to Court on 26.03.2025, charges have been framed on 16.04.2025 and out of total 14 prosecution witnesses none has been examined so far, meaning thereby, the conclusion of the trial will take long time.

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On behalf of the State

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On the other hand, learned State counsel has produced the custody certificate of the petitioner today in Court, which is taken on record. He seeks dismissal of the instant petition on the ground that the alleged contraband i.e. 20 grams of heroin was recovered from the present petitioner.

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POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-15219-2025

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He further submits that the petitioner is a habitual offender as she is involved in multiple cases.

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4. Analysis

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Be that as it may, considering the custody period undergone by the petitioner i.e. 03 months and 07 days added with the facts that the quantity of alleged contraband is non-commercial in nature; investigation is complete, wherein after framing of charges on 16.04.2025, out of total 14 prosecution witnesses, none has been examined so far, which is suffice for this Court to infer that the conclusion of trial shall take considerable time, this Court is of the considering view that detaining the petitioner behind the bars for an indefinite period would serve no purpose.

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Reliance can be placed upon the judgment of the Apex Court rendered in “ Dataram versus State of Uttar Pradesh and another”, 2018(2) R.C.R. (Criminal) 131 , wherein it has been held that the grant of bail is a general rule and putting persons in jail or in prison or in correction home is an exception. Relevant paras of the said judgment is reproduced as under:-

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“2. A fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of innocence, meaning thereby that a person is believed to be innocent until found guilty. However, there are instances in our criminal law where a reverse onus has been placed on an accused with regard to some specific offences but that is another matter and does not detract from the fundamental postulate in respect of other offences. Yet another important facet of our criminal jurisprudence is that the grant of bail is the general rule and putting a person in jail or in a prison or in a correction home (whichever expression one may wish to use) is an exception. Unfortunately, some of these basic principles appear to have been lost sight of with the result that more and more persons

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POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-15219-2025

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are being incarcerated and for longer periods. This does not do any good to our criminal jurisprudence or to our society. 3. There is no doubt that the grant or denial of bail is entirely the discretion of the judge considering a case but even so, the exercise of judicial discretion has been circumscribed by a large number of decisions rendered by this Court and by every High Court in the country. Yet, occasionally there is a necessity to introspect whether denying bail to an accused person is the right thing to do on the facts and in the circumstances of a case.

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4. While so introspecting, among the factors that need to be considered is whether the accused was arrested during investigations when that person perhaps has the best opportunity to tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses. If the investigating officer does not find it necessary to arrest an accused person during investigations, a strong case should be made out for placing that person in judicial custody after a charge sheet is filed. Similarly, it is important to ascertain whether the accused was participating in the investigations to the satisfaction of the investigating officer and was not absconding or not appearing when required by the investigating officer. Surely, if an accused is not hiding from the investigating officer or is hiding due to some genuine and expressed fear of being victimised, it would be a factor that a judge would need to consider in an appropriate case. It is also necessary for the judge to consider whether the accused is a first-time offender or has been accused of other offences and if so, the nature of such offences and his or her general conduct. The poverty or the deemed indigent status of an accused is also an extremely important factor and even Parliament has taken notice of it by incorporating an Explanation to section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. An equally soft approach to incarceration has been taken by Parliament by inserting section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 5. To put it shortly, a humane attitude is required to be adopted by a judge, while dealing with an application for

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POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-15219-2025

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remanding a suspect or an accused person to police custody or judicial custody. There are several reasons for this including maintaining the dignity of an accused person, howsoever poor that person might be, the requirements of Article 21 of the Constitution and the fact that there is enormous overcrowding in prisons, leading to social and other problems as noticed by this Court in In Re-Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons, 2017(4) RCR (Criminal) 416: 2017(5) Recent Apex Judgments (R.A.J.) 408 : (2017) 10 SCC 658

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6. The historical background of the provision for bail has been elaborately and lucidly explained in a recent decision delivered in Nikesh Tara chand Shah v. Union of India, 2017 (13) SCALE 609 going back to the days of the Magna Carta. In that decision, reference was made to Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State of Punjab, (1980) 2 SCC 565 in which it is observed that it was held way back in Nagendra v. KingEmperor, AIR 1924 Calcutta 476 that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment. Reference was also made to Emperor v. Hutchinson, AIR 1931 Allahabad 356 wherein it was observed that grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception. The provision for bail is therefore age-old and the liberal interpretation to the provision for bail is almost a century old, going back to colonial days.

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7. However, we should not be understood to mean that bail should be granted in every case. The grant or refusal of bail is entirely within the discretion of the judge hearing the matter and though that discretion is unfettered, it must be exercised judiciously and in a humane manner and compassionately. Also, conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory.”

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Therefore, to elucidate further, this Court is conscious of the

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basic and fundamental principle of law that right to speedy trial is a part of reasonable, fair and just procedure enshrined under Article 21 of the POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-15219-2025

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Constitution of India. This constitutional right cannot be denied to the accused as is the mandate of the Apex court in “ Balwinder Singh versus

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State of Punjab and Another”, SLP (Crl.) No.8523/2024. Relevant paras of the said judgment reads as under:-

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“7. An accused has a right to a fair trial and while a hurried trial is frowned upon as it may not give sufficient time to prepare for the defence, an inordinate delay in conclusion of the trial would infringe the right of an accused guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

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8. It is not for nothing the Author Oscar Wilde in “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, wrote the following poignant lines while being incarcerated:

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“I know not whether Laws be right,

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Or whether Laws be wrong;

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All that we know who be in jail

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Is that the wall is strong;

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And that each day is like a year, A year whose days are long.”

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As far as the pendency of other cases and involvement of the petitioner in other cases is concerned, reliance can be placed upon the order of this Court rendered in CRM-M-25914-2022 titled as “Baljinder Singh alias Rock vs. State of Punjab” decided on 02.03.2023, wherein, while referring Article 21 of the Constitution of India, this Court has held that no doubt, at the time of granting bail, the criminal antecedents of the petitioner are to be looked into but at the same time it is equally true that the appreciation of evidence during the course of trial has to be looked into with reference to the evidence in that case alone and not with respect to the evidence in the other pending cases. In such eventuality, strict adherence to the rule of denial of bail on account of pendency of other cases/convictions

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POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-15219-2025

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in all probability would land the petitioner in a situation of denial of concession of bail.

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5. RELIEF:

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In view of the discussions made hereinabove, the petitioner is hereby directed to be released on regular bail on her furnishing bail and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial Court/Duty Magistrate, concerned.

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In the afore-said terms, the present petition is hereby allowed. However, it is made clear that anything stated hereinabove shall not be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.

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(SANDEEP MOUDGIL) 08.05.2025 JUDGE

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Poonam Negi Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No

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POONAM NEGI 2025.05.08 18:03 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

Rani Kaur v. State of Punjab

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Rani Kaur v. State of Punjab

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

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