Satyabhan Vs State of Punjab — Narcotics (NDPS) | Punjab & Haryana HC (2026)

Satyabhan Vs State of Punjab — Narcotics (NDPS) | Punjab & Haryana HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioner ordered to be released on bail on furnishing personal bond and surety bond(s) to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court, without commenting on the merits, subject to conditions: (i) no direct or indirect inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade disclosure; (ii) furnish address at execution of bond and notify any change of address to the trial Court till final decision of the trial; and (iii) not leave India without prior permission of the trial Court.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner, implicated in FIR No.24 dated 02.03.2024 (Police Station Sirhind) under Sections 18-b of the NDPS Act with alleged recovery of 10 kg of opium, is entitled to bail in the light of the principles laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on grant of bail in NDPS cases involving commercial quantity recoveries, undue delay in trial and prolonged incarceration, notwithstanding the statutory embargo contained under Section-37 of the NDPS Act.

Court's answer

Taking the cumulative effect of all the abovementioned factors involved in the instant case into consideration, the petitioner is entitled for the benefit of bail and the present petition deserves to be allowed.

Ratio / Principle

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

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Punjab & Haryana High Court (Surya Partap Singh, J., oral) allows the first bail petition of Satyabhan under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 in a case arising out of FIR No.24 dated 02.03.2024, Police Station Sirhind, District Fatehgarh Sahib, for offence punishable under Sections 18-b of the NDPS Act, wherein 10 kg of Opium was allegedly recovered from him upon chance recovery during patrolling. Relying on the principles laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Mohd. Muslim @ Hussain v. State (NCT of Delhi), Manmandal, Rabi Prakash, Santosh Pawar, Satender Kumar Antil, Ismail Khan @ Pathan, Ebrahim @ Ibrahim SK, Pamesh Arora, Hasanujjaman, Nandlal Mondal, Dataram, Tapas Kumar Palit and Balwinder Singh — that grant of bail on account of undue delay in trial is not fettered by Section-37 of the NDPS Act, that prolonged incarceration militates against the fundamental right guaranteed under Article-21 of the Constitution, and that the right to speedy trial cannot be denied to the accused — the Court held, on the cumulative effect of the abovementioned factors, that the petitioner is entitled to the benefit of bail. Release ordered on personal bond and surety bond(s) to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court, subject to conditions (no inducement, threat or promise; address to be furnished and changes notified; no departure from India without trial Court permission), without commenting on the merits.

CRM-M-35667-2025 (O&M) 1

..... Petitioner

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

112 CRM-M-35667-2025 (O&M) Date of decision : 23.02.2026

Satyabhan

VERSUS

State of Punjab

..... Respondent

CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SURYA PARTAP SINGH

Present : Mr. Khush Deep Mann, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Eklavya Darshi, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab.

SURYA PARTAP SINGH, J. ( oral )

This petition for bail, which is first petition filed by the petitioner under Section 483 of ‘the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023’, has been filed with regard to a case arising out of FIR No.24 dated 02.03.2024, for the commission of offence punishable under Sections 18-b of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, hereinafter being referred to as ‘NDPS Act’, Police Station Sirhind, District Fatehgarh Sahib.

The abovementioned FIR came into being when chance recovery of contraband took place from the possession of petitioner, who was intercepted during the course of patrolling by a police party. As per prosecution from the possession of petitioner, 10 kg of Opium was recovered.

It is the case of the prosecution that pursuant to abovementioned contraband, necessary formalities with regard to seizure &

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sealing of contraband, lodging of FIR, and formal arrest of the accused were performed, and further investigation taken up.

Notice of motion .

Mr. Eklavya Darshi, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab appears on behalf of respondent-State. Hence service of notice upon the State is hereby dispensed with. The learned State Counsel has filed short reply as well as custody certificate of the petitioner. The same be taken on record.

Heard.

The record has been perused carefully.

As far as the principles with regard to grant of bail in a case related to NDPS Act, where recovery of contraband comes within the ambit of commercial quantity, are concerned, the principles of law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of ‘Mohd. Muslim @ Hussain v. State’ (NCT of Delhi), 2023 SCC OnLine SC 352 are relevant, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that grant of bail on account of undue delay in trial cannot be said to be fettered under Section-37 of the NDPS Act, given the imperative of Section 436-A which is applicable to offences under the Act.

In this regard it is also relevant to mention here that the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of ‘Manmandal and Another v. State of West Bengal’, Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No.8656 of 2023 decided on 14.09.2023 and ‘Rabi Prakash v. State of Odisha’, 2023 SCC Online SC 1109, extended the benefit of bail to the accused, who had been incarcerated for a period of almost 2-3 years and the trial was likely to take considerable time. The above-mentioned benefit has been given by observing that prolonged incarceration generally militates against the most precious fundamental right

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guaranteed under Article-21 of the Constitution, and in such a situation, the constitutional principles must override the statutory embargo contained under Section-37 of the NDPS Act.

In addition to above, in a recently pronounced verdict in the case of ‘Santosh Pawar Vs. State of Chhattishgarh & Anr.’ Criminal Appeal No.4883/2025, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India observed that rigors of Section 37 of NDPS Act will not be a bar for considering the case of an accused for bail as it comes with a condition that the prosecution would press for an early completion of trial. In the above-mentioned case the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India held that appellant who was being prosecuted for being in possession of commercial quantity of narcotic substance, was entitled for bail in view of her incarceration for a period of 19 months.

Similarly in another case i.e. in the case of ‘Satender Kumar Antil v. Central Bureau of Investigation’ (2022) 10 SCC 51 prolonged incarceration and inordinate delay engaged the attention of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, which considered the correct approach towards bail, with respect to several enactments, including Section 37 NDPS Act. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India expressed the opinion that Section 436A of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 [which requires inter alia the accused to be enlarged on bail if the trial is not concluded within specified periods] would apply in such cases.

In the case of ‘Ismail Khan @ Pathan vs. State of Rajasthan’ Criminal Appeal No.4911 of 2025 with regard to recovery of commercial quantity of narcotic substance the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India accorded the benefit of bail to the accused in view of prolonged incarceration for a period of 02 years and 08 months of the accused.

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The similar benefit has been taken in another appeal i.e. SLP No.15699-2025 titled as ‘Ebrahim @ Ibrahim SK vs. The State of West Bengal’ and in the case of ‘Pamesh Arora vs. UT Chandigarh’ Criminal Appeal No.4872 of 2025.

In the case of ‘Hasanujjaman & Ors. V/s The State of West Bengal’ SLP (Crl.) No.3221 of 2023, the benefit of bail has been accorded by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to an accused, who was found in the possession of 115 bottles of phensedyl, by observing that:-

a) the petitioner was in custody for a period of one year and three months;

b) the investigation in that case was complete and charge-sheet had been filed, but charges were yet to be framed;

c) the conclusion of trial would take some time; and

d) the petitioner had no criminal antecedents.

In view of abovementioned prevailing factors, it has been observed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India that there is substantial compliance of Section-37 of NDPS Act.

Similarly, in the case of ‘Nandlal Mondal @Abhay Mondal V/s The State of West Bengal’ SLP(Crl) No.12788/2023, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India afforded the benefit of bail to the accused, who was found in possession of 10,000 ml of codeine phosphate, and was in custody for a period of one and a half year, by considering that conclusion of trial would take long time.

If the facts and circumstances of the present case are analyzed in the light of above-mentioned principles of law, it transpires that:-

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In the present case, the principles of law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of “Dataram versus State of Uttar Pradesh and another”, 2018(2) R.C.R. (Criminal) 131, are relevant, wherein it has been observed that “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

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lost sight of with the result that more and more persons are being incarcerated and for longer periods. This does not do any good to our criminal jurisprudence or to our society. 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”.

The principles laid down by the Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India in the case of ‘Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and Another’, (2022) 10 SCC 51, are also relevant in this case. In the abovementioned case, it has been observed that “the rate of conviction in criminal cases in India is abysmally low. It appears to us that this factor weighs on the mind of the Court while deciding the bail applications in a negative sense. Courts tend to think that the possibility of a conviction being nearer to rarity, bail applications will have to be decided strictly, contrary to legal principles. We cannot mix up consideration of a bail application, which is not punitive in nature with that of a possible adjudication by way of trial. On the contrary, an ultimate acquittal with continued custody would be a case of grave injustice”.

Recently, in the case of ‘Tapas Kumar Palit Vs. State of Chhattisgarh’, 2025 SCC Online SC 322, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has observed that “if an accused is to get a final verdict after incarceration of six to seven years in jail as an undertrial prisoner, then,

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definitely, it could be said that his right to have a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution has been infringed”. It has also been observed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the abovementioned case that “delays are bad for the accused and extremely bad for the victims, for Indian society and for the credibility of our justice system, which is valued. Judges are the masters of their Courtrooms and the Criminal Procedure Code provides many tools for the Judges to use in order to ensure that cases proceed efficiently”.

To elucidate further, this Court is conscious of the 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 Constitution of India. This constitutional right cannot be denied to the accused as mandated by Hon’ble Apex court in “ Balwinder Singh versus State of Punjab and Another”, 2024 SCC Online SC 4354.

If the cumulative effect of all the abovementioned factors, involved in the instant case, is taken into consideration, it leads to a conclusion that the petitioner is entitled for the benefit of bail, and that the present petition deserves to be allowed.

Accordingly, without commenting anything on the merits of the case, the present petition is hereby allowed . The petitioner is hereby ordered to be released on bail on furnishing personal bond and surety bond(s) to the satisfaction of learned trial Court. However the abovementioned concession shall be subject to following conditions:-

(i) that the petitioner shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with

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the facts of the case, so as to dissuade him to disclose such facts to the Court or to any other authority.

(ii) that the petitioner shall at the time of execution of bond, furnish the address to the Court concerned and shall notify the change in address to the trial Court, till the final decision of the trial; and

(iii) that the petitioner shall not leave India without prior permission of the trial Court.

(SURYA PARTAP SINGH) JUDGE 23.02.2026 Gaurav Thakur Whether speaking / reasoned Yes/No Whether Reportable Yes/No

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