JUDGMENT (Per R.M.S.Khandeparkar, J.):

1. Heard. Rule. The learned Advocates appearing on behalf of the respondents waive service on behalf of the respective respondents. By consent, rule made returnable forthwith.

2. By the present petition, the petitioner is challenging the order dated 25-4-2007 passed by the Special Judge for the NDPS Court, Mumbai in Remand Application No.96 of 2007 in NDPS Special Case No.67 of 2007 while seeking to quash the prosecution in the said special case against the petitioner.

3. On 17-10-2002 the officers of the Detroit Field Office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement seized a consignment of 1243 pounds (565.2 Kgs.) of hashish in Newwark, U.S.A.. The said hashish was found concealed in a consignment of pickles of the company named Mahesh Food Products of Mumbai (India) and exported to a company called the House of Spice in Newwark, U.S.A.. The seizure of contraband goods was effected as a consequence of the joint operation carried out by the DEA of U.S.A., the Narcotic Control Bureau of India and the enforcement agencies in Germany and Austria. It appears that in the course of the investigation, it has been transpired that two persons, namely the petitioner herein and one Niranjan were engaged in trafficking hashish out of India to the U.S.A. as well as to the various destinations in Europe and the said seized quantity of hashish was also smuggled/exported out of India by the petitioner and the said Niranjan Shah, besides one Kishore was also involved in the said trafficking activities.

4. The petitioner came to be arrested by the officers of the DEA, U.S.A. on 5-12-2002 in Vienna, Austria. The petitioner extradited to the U.S.A., and was tried before the U.S.A. District Courts, Eastern District of Michigan in Case No.04 CR 80571-1. The petitioner pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to possess with intention to distribute and to distribute controlled substances which is an offence under Section 846 of Title 21 of the laws in force in U.S.A. in relation to Food and Drugs and consequently was sentenced under the Sentencing Review Act, 1984 and accordingly was ordered to be imprisoned for a total term of 54 months.

5. As a follow-up action of the joint operation, the officers of the NCB arrested Niranjan Shah, Kishore Joshi and Irfan Gazali in respect of their alleged roles in the said smuggling activities and are sought to be prosecuted in India.

6. After serving the sentence in U.S.A., the petitioner was deported to India and on his arrival at New Delhi on 5-4-2007, he was apprehended by the officers of the NCB. The petitioner was brought to Mumbai and pursuant to the orders passed by the learned Special Judge from 10-4-2007, the petitioner continued to be in custody. His application for bail came to be dismissed by the impugned order. In the said application, apart from seeking bail, the petitioner sought to raise the point of double jeopardy and illegality in prosecuting the petitioner once the petitioner having been convicted for the same offence in U.S.A..

7. It is the case of the petitioner that the arrest, detention and prosecution of the petitioner in the case in hand is in flagrant violation of the constitutional protection envisaged under Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India as also in violation of the statutory provisions comprised under Section 300(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, hereinafter called as "the Code". The petitioner having been once prosecuted and punished for the same offence by a competent Court, it is not permissible for the NCB to prosecute the petitioner once again for the same offence. The Section 300(1) of the Code clearly bars the present prosecution in the facts and circumstances of the case as the charges which the prosecution intend to level against the petitioner are the charges of which he was accused of, or could have been accused of when the pe

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