Allowed¶26

Ranjit Singh @ Cheetah v. National Investigation Agency Nia

Punjab & Haryana HC30 Mar 2026CRA-D/494/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Interim bail for son's marriage converted into 2-hour escorted wedding attendance; NIA/UAPA/NDPS/Passport Act accused; CRA-D appeal Punjab & Haryana HC Chandigarh; Central Jail Patiala custody escort with security; Annexure A-3 wedding card verification; Anoop Chitkara & Sukhvinder Kaur; non-reportable speaking order; NIA Act S.21 appeal.

What did the court decide?

Appeal allowed: appellant to be taken from Central Jail, Patiala to his son's marriage venue at Kot Khalsa, Amritsar by 09.00 AM on 31.03.2026 for 02 hours under adequate security and returned to jail immediately thereafter; all pending applications, including suspension of sentence, disposed of. ¶26

Ranjit Singh @ Cheetah Vs National Investigation Agency Nia — Punjab & Haryana HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶26

Issue for consideration

Whether the appellant, an accused in NIA RC No. 23/2020/NIA/DLI, should be granted interim bail to make arrangements for and attend the marriage ceremony of his son.

¶16

Court's answer

The present appeal is allowed.

¶26

Ratio / Principle

The Superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala is directed to make arrangements to take the appellant to the marriage venue by 09.00 AM on 31.03.2026 for a period of 02 hours and to bring him back to Central Jail, Patiala immediately thereafter.

¶26

Key takeaways

State counsel shall ensure that adequate security arrangements are made for conveying the appellant to the marriage venue and returning him to Central Jail, Patiala on 31.03.2026.ratio¶26
All pending applications, including the application for suspension of sentence, stand disposed of.ratio¶26

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Punjab & Haryana High Court (bench: Anoop Chitkara & Sukhvinder Kaur, JJ.) allowed CRA-D-494-2026 (O&M) filed under Section 21 of the NIA Act, 2008 by Ranjit Singh @ Cheetah, appellant/accused in RC No. 23/2020/NIA/DLI (charges under IPC, UAPA, NDPS Act and Indian Passport Act), who sought 20 days' interim bail to arrange and attend his son's wedding after the trial Court dismissed his application on 20.03.2026. With State counsel verifying the marriage (Annexure A-3 wedding card; ceremony fixed 31.03.2026 at Kot Khalsa, Amritsar), the Court directed the Superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala to take the appellant to the venue by 09.00 AM on 31.03.2026 for 02 hours under adequate security and return him to jail immediately thereafter; all pending applications, including suspension of sentence, were disposed of. Speaking/reasoned order; not reportable.

¶1

CRA-D-494-2026 (O&M)

¶2

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

¶3

253

¶4

CRA-D-494-2026 (O&M) Date of Decision: 30.03.2026

¶5

Ranjit Singh @ Cheetah

¶6

......Appellant

¶7

Versus

¶8

National Investigation Agency NIA

¶9

......Respondent

¶10

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUKHVINDER KAUR

¶11

Present: Mr. Amit Agnihotri, Advocate for the appellant.

¶12

Mr. Sukhdeep Singh Sandhu, Special Public Prosecutor for NIA.

¶13

¶14

ANOOP CHITKARA J.

¶15

RC No.	Dated	Police Station	Section
23/2020/	08.05.2020	NIA Delhi	120-B IPC, 419, 471, 489, 201 IPC,
NIA/DLI			17, 18, 20, 38, 40 of UAPA, 8, 21,
			23, 24, 25, 27, 27-A, 29 and 31 of NDPS Act and 12(1) (b) of Indian Passport Act

¶16

Seeking grant of interim bail for 20 days in the NIA case captioned above to make arrangements for the marriage ceremony of his son as well as to attend his wedding ceremony, the appellant has come up before this Court by filing the present appeal under Section 21 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.

¶17

Counsel for the appellant submits that earlier the appellant had filed CRA-D No. 404 of 2026 for grant of same relief. Vide order dated 19.03.2026, this Court had permitted the appellant to file an application before the trial Court and disposed of the said appeal by requesting the trial Court to decide the said application, if filed not later than 02 days.

¶18

Vide impugned order dated 20.03.2026, the trial Court had dismissed the application for grant of interim bail.

¶19

Feeling aggrieved, the appellant has come up before this Court.

¶20

On 27.03.2026, the matter was adjourned for today and State was asked to get

¶21

instructions.

¶22

¶23

JYOTI SHARMA 2026.03.30 17:45 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment High Court, Sector 1, Chandigarh

¶24

CRA-D-494-2026 (O&M)

¶25

State counsel on instructions submits that they have verified the factum of marriage and has handed over Annexure A-3 which is a wedding card as per which, the marriage is stated to be scheduled on 31.03.2026 at House No.37, Street No.2, Guru Ram Dass Nagar, Kot Khalsa, Amritsar.

¶26

Given the above, the present appeal is allowed. The Superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala is directed to make necessary arrangement for taking the appellant to the place of marriage as mentioned above by 09.00 AM on 31.03.2026 for a period of 02 hours and after that, he shall be immediately taken back to Central Jail, Patiala. State counsel shall ensure that adequate security arrangements are made for conveying the appellant to the venue of marriage and consigning him back to Central Jail, Patiala on 31.03.2026. All pending applications, including application for suspension of sentence, also stand disposed of.

¶27

Copy of this order be supplied to counsel for the petitioner under the signatures of Bench Secretary of this Court.

¶28

(ANOOP CHITKARA)

¶29

JUDGE

¶30

(SUKHVINDER KAUR) JUDGE

¶31

30.03.2026 Jyoti Sharma

¶32

Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes Whether reportable: No .