The main legal point established in the judgment is that for offences involving commercial quantity of narcotic drugs, the provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act create limitations on granting bail, and the Court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence and is not likely to commit the same offence while on bail.

JUDGMENT :

Chander Shekhar, J.

This order shall dispose of the application filed by the petitioner under Section 439 read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, read with Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter to be referred as 'the NDPS Act') for the grant of regular bail.

2. Briefly stated, the facts of the prosecution case are that, on 2.12.2015, on the basis of secret information, two parcels booked under Airways Bill No.4555208195 and 4555208206 were intercepted at the office of DHL Courier Company, Rama Road, Kirti Nagar, New Delhi and the same were found to contain 390 gms and 325 gms respectively of some substances which were sent to CFSL, Lodhi Road for chemical analysis. The said substances were found positive for Pseudo ephedrine and Heroin respectively. During investigation, it was revealed that both the said parcels were booked by the accused('petitioner' herein) with his own ID at the instance of the co-accused, Lokesh Chadha. It is further alleged by the prosecution that recovery of the said narcotic substances falls within the category of commercial quantity.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner stated that the petitioner is in custody since 17.2.2016 and he has been falsely implicated in this case.

4. The respondent has already filed the status report/reply to the bail application, wherein it is stated that during the investigation, it was revealed that both the parcels were booked by the petitioner with his own ID. It is further stated in the status report that the petitioner had tendered his voluntary statement under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, wherein he disclosed that, on the instruction of the co-accused, Lokesh Chadha, he received the parcels in question from one foreigner. He also disclosed that the said foreigner customer provided one vague ID. The petitioner further disclosed that the contents of the parcels have been checked-up by the co-accused Lokesh Chadha and ultimately, on instructions of Lokesh Chadha, both the parcels were booked by the petitioner with his own ID.

5. It is also stated in the status report that the co-accused, Lokesh Chadha had also tendered his voluntary statement under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, wherein he disclosed that, on his instructions, the petitioner had received both the parcels and were booked by him with his own ID, as he had directed the petitioner to do so. From the statement of Lokesh Chadha, it was revealed that, before booking of the parcels, they used to check the contents of the parcels which show that the accused knowingly and intentionally booked the parcels with the knowledge that the same were containing the recovered drugs. Further, from the investigation, it was revealed that the petitioner as well as the co-accused Lokesh Chadha are knowingly involved in the present case.

6. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record.

7. This Court, vide order dated 24.7.2017, had dismissed the bail application filed on behalf of co- accused Lokesh Chadha observing as under:

"It appears that attempts are made to export the narcotic drugs out of India by the petitioner in criminal conspiracy with co accused Anuj Gosain. Admittedly, it is a case of commercial quantity of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Section 37 of the NDPS Act is attracted which creates an embargo on the power of the Court to grant bail. At present there is no material on the record to suggest that in case the co accused is released on bail, he is not likely to commit any such offence while on bail."

8. In the order dated 14.12.2018, while dismissing the bail application of the petitioner, it was held by the Special Judge, NDPS, New Delhi (hereinafter to be referred as 'the Trial Court') as under:

"In the present case, from the statements of both the accused, it has come up on record that earlier also, co-accused Lokesh Chadha has sent parcels pertaining to foreigners on 5 to 6 occasions and the present