The court ruled that under the NDPS Act, bail requires reasonable grounds for believing the accused are not guilty and unlikely to offend again, regardless of detention length.

ORDER :

Kalyan Rai Surana, J.

1. Heard Mr. D.K. Baidya, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. S.C. Keyal, learned counsel for the respondent, i.e. Union of India, represented by the Customs Department.

2. By this application filed under section 483 BNSS, the petitioners, namely, (1) Sahil Sharma, and (2) Akshay Kumar, who are in custody since their arrest on 19.05.2022 in connection with Special NDPS Case No. 79/2022, arising out of Case No. 01/CL/NDPS/AS/KXJ/2022-23 under section 22(c)/25/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act for short), have prayed for bail. The petitioners are being tried before the Court of the learned Special Judge, Karimganj.

3. This application is the fourth bail application by the petitioners. The previous two bail applications of the petitioners were rejected by this Court vide (i) order dated 16.02.2023, passed in B.A. No. 3464/2022, and (ii) order dated 07.11.2023, passed in B.A. No. 2989/2023, and (iii) 28.06.2024, passed in B.A. No. 338/2024.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that till today i.e. 05.08.2024, the petitioners have been in custody for 809 days. It was also submitted that till date only 1 (one) prosecution witness has been examined, cross-examined and discharged and therefore, as the prosecution has cited 14 (fourteen) prosecution witnesses, there is no possibility of an early conclusion of trial.

5. It is submitted that delay in trial has infringed the fundamental right of the petitioners under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is also submitted that existence of such a right has been accepted by the Supreme Court of India as well as by this Court. It was further submitted on the ground that there is no sign of early trial, co-ordinate Bench of this Court has released under-trial prisoners considering the length of their detention. It was also submitted that even the Supreme Court of India had deprecated the long incarceration of under-trial prisoners for a long time and that on the ground that the right of the petitioners under Article 21 of the Constitution of India was violated and thus, the petitioners have become entitled to be released on bail.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the petitioners are merely the driver and handyman of the truck bearing registration no. JK-02-CV-6137, in which goods declared to be 560 packets of natural rubber was loaded by a transport company i.e. Jammu Tripura Roadlines. Hence, it was submitted that the petitioners were not the owners of the contraband.

7. It has been submitted that as per his instructions, the petitioners are ready and willing to abide by any condition that may be imposed in the event of grant of bail.

8. In support of his submissions, the learned counsel for the petitioners has cited the following cases, viz., (i) Shariful Islam @ Sarif v. State of West Bengal, (ii) Rabi Prakash v. State of Odisha, (iii) Nitish Adhikary @ Bapan v. The State of West Bengal, SLP (Crl.) No. 5769/2022, decided by a 2-Judge Bench of Supreme Court of India on 01.08.2022, (iv) Mohammad Salman Hanif Shaikh v. The State of Gujarat, SLP (Crl.) 5530/2022, decided by a 2-Judge Bench of Supreme Court of India on 22.08.2022, (v) Mohd. Muslim @ Hussain v. State (NCT of Delhi), 2023 INSC 311, (vi) Dheeraj Kumar Shukla v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 919, (vii) Anjan Nath v. The State of Assam, SLP (Crl.) No. 9860/2023, decided by a 3-Judge Bench of Supreme Court of India on 17.10.2023, (viii) Chitta Biswas @ Subhas v. The State of West Bengal, Crl. Appeal No. 245/2020, decided by a 2-Judge Bench of Supreme Court of India on 07.02.2020, (ix) Hafijul Mandal & Anr. v. Narcotics Control Bureau, Guwahati, B.A. No. 364/2024, decided by a coordinate Bench of this Court on 20.04.2024, (x) Rabi Ahmed Barbhuiya v. Union of India, B.A. No. 449/2024, decided by a coordinate Bench of this Court on 20.04.2024, (xi) Pawan Kumar Yadav & Anr. v. The State of Assam,