IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
G.S.Kulkarni, J.
Imran Khan – Appellant
Versus
Union of India – Respondent
Criminal Application (Bail) No. 24 of 2022
Decided On : 17-10-2022
BAIL - NDPS Act - Sec. 439 - The applicant is accused no. 2 in NDPS Special Case No. 41/2022, facing trial for offences punishable under Ss. 20(b)(ii)(A), 22(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985. The contraband was recovered from the applicant's house, leading to his arrest. The court analyzed the evidence and concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant was guilty of the offences. The court rejected the bail application. However, after the examination report of the Goa State Forensic Science Laboratory revealed that the recovered contraband was not of a commercial quantity, the court granted bail to the applicant.
Fact of the Case:
The applicant was accused no. 2 in NDPS Special Case No. 41/2022, facing trial for offences under the NDPS Act. The contraband was recovered from the applicant's house, leading to his arrest and subsequent bail application.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant was guilty of the offences under the NDPS Act, leading to the rejection of the bail application. However, after the examination report revealed that the recovered contraband was not of a commercial quantity, the court granted bail to the applicant.
Issues: The main issue was whether the applicant should be granted bail considering the recovery of contraband from his house and the charges against him under the NDPS Act.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the examination report of the Goa State Forensic Science Laboratory, which revealed that the recovered contraband was not of a commercial quantity, leading to the grant of bail to the applicant.
Final Decision: The court granted bail to the applicant on furnishing a PR bond in the sum of Rs.50,000.00 with one or two sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Special Court. The applicant was directed not to leave the State of Goa without the prior permission of the Special Court and was required to deposit his passport and furnish an affidavit with his correct address details before being released from custody.
JUDGMENT
1. This is an application for bail under Sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The applicant is accused no. 2 in NDPS Special Case No. 41/2022, who is facing trial being charged for offences punishable under Ss. 20(b)(ii)(A), 22(c) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 ("the NDPS Act", for short) arising from FIR No. 183/2021 registered with the Pernem Police Station, North Goa. On the investigation of the case having concluded, a chargesheet was filed against the applicant and other co-accused on 21/5/2022. The applicant was arrested in connection with the said FIR on 25/11/2021.
2. The case of the prosecution is that on 25/11/2021 at 18:10 hours, a complaint against the applicant-Imran Khan (accused no. 2) and two others, namely, Shabab Khan (accused no. 1) and Niyazuddin (accused no. 3) came to be registered at the Pernem Police Station by PSI Vivek Halarnkar. The complaint was to the effect that on 25/11/2021 at 13:05 hours, the accused persons were caught red handed in illegal possession of narcotic drugs Ganja weighing 49.2 grams worth Rs.5,000.00; narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances suspected to be Ecstasy tablets weighing 15.7 grams worth Rs.1,50,000.00 and MDMA weighing 19.10 grams worth Rs.1,90,000.00 (all being drugs total worth of Rs.3,45,000.00), which were seized. PSI Vivek Halarnkar along with the raiding team and the panch witnesses had reached the spot, at 13:15 hours, namely, the house which was rented by accused no. 1 and the applicant, situated at Khind, Morjim. Upon searching the living room one brown colour shoulder bag kept on the sofa was found. Upon checking the said bag, it was found that there was one autopress transparent polythene packet containing in it grass like leafy substance suspected to be narcotic drug known as Ganja. Upon asking Shabab Khan, Imran and Niyazuddin confirmed that said grass like leafy substance was stated to be Ganja. PSI Vivek Halarnkar took the small pinch of said grass like leafy substance suspected to be Ganja and tested through Narcotic detection kit supplied by Kwick Soft Solutions Private Limited. The test showed to be positive for Ganja. The autopress transparent polythene bags containing in it grass like leafy substance suspected to be Ganja was weighed on the electronic weighing scale was found to be weighing 49.2 grams. That upon further checking of the said bag another autopress transparent polythene packet was found which was containing in it total 33 tablets i.e. blue colour skull shaped tablet 04, blue colour hexagon shape 08 tablets, yellow colour hexagon shape 10 tablets, pink colour skull shape 02 tablets and pink colour rectangular shape 09 tablets suspected to be narcotic drugs Ecstasy. PSI Vivek Halarnkar took the small pinch of pink rectangular tablet and tested with Narcotic detection kit supplied by Kwick Soft Solutions Private Limited. The test showed to be positive for narcotic drugs known as Ecstasy. The said autopress transparent polythene bags containing in it total 33 tablets suspected to Narcotic drug Ecstasy was weighed on the electronic weighing scale and same was found to be weighing 15.7 grams. Upon further checking of the said bag, one more autopress transparent polythene packet was found containing in it 05 wrapped white polythene containing in it glass like crystals substance and 09 wrapped white polythene with red adhesive tape above it containing in it glass like crystals substance suspected to be narcotic drugs MDMA. PSI Vivek Halarnkar tested the sample through Narcotic detection kit supplied by Kwick Soft Solutions Private Limited. The test showed to be positive for narcotic drug known as MDMA. The glass like crystals substance suspected to be Narcotic drug MDMA were weighed on the electronic weighing scale and same was found to be weighing 19.10 grams. That the Panchanama commenced at 13:05 hours and concluded at 16:15 hours which was prepared in English as per the say of indep
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The main legal point established in the judgment is that the examination report revealing that the recovered contraband was not of a commercial quantity influenced the court's decision to grant bail ....
The court upheld the presumption of conscious possession under the NDPS Act, emphasizing the burden on the accused to prove otherwise, and denied bail due to the commercial quantity of narcotics invo....
The main legal point established is the stringent requirement of reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the alleged offence and is not likely to commit any offence while o....
Bail under the NDPS Act requires substantial evidence indicating the accused is not guilty, prioritizing public safety and the integrity of judicial processes over personal liberty.
Point of law: That there has been a judicious application of mind by the judge who is deciding an application under Section 439 of the CrPC must emerge from the quality of the reasoning which is embo....
The judgment emphasizes the importance of liberty and the need to avoid pre-conviction incarceration, balancing the recovery of contraband with the potential innocence of the accused and the impact o....
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