Back
2020 Supreme(HP) 333
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
Anoop Chitkara, J.
Prem Singh - Appellant
Versus
State of Himachal Pradesh - Respondent
Criminal Miscellaneous Petition (Main) No. 115 of 2020
Decided On : 30-05-2020
Vaibhav Tanwar, Advocate, Nand Lal Thakur, Advocate, Ram Lal Thakur, Advocate, Rajat Chauhan, Advocate, Ashwani Sharma, Advocate, Shradha Karol, Advocate
The court emphasized the gravity of the offence and the need to balance the interests of the victim, accused, society, and state in determining bail under the NDPS Act.
Headnote:
NDPS Act - Bail Application - Sections 20 & 29 - [SUMMARY OF ACT SECTIONS REFERENCED AND DISCUSSED]
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner was arrested for possessing 2.369 kilograms of Charas and brokering its sale under Sections 20 & 29 of the NDPS Act. The police recovered the contraband from the petitioner and arrested him after a series of events involving the exchange of money and cannabis.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner failed to satisfy the conditions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act for bail. The court emphasized the gravity of the offence and the need to balance the interests of the victim, accused, society, and state.
Issues: The main issue was whether the petitioner was entitled to bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, considering the commercial quantity of the contraband and the evidence presented.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the prosecution must be given the opportunity to oppose the bail application, and the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the alleged offence. The petitioner failed to make a special case for bail at that stage.
Final Decision: The petition was dismissed, and the petitioner was advised to file a fresh bail application after the filing of the police report under Section 173(2) CrPC.
JUDGMENT
Anoop Chitkara, J. - For possessing 2.369 kilograms of Charas, the petitioner, who is under arrest, on being arraigned as an accused of brokering its sale, in FIR Number 346/19, dated 11.12.2019, registered under Sections 20 & 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (after now called "NDPS Act"), in Police Station Sundernagar, District Mandi, HP, disclosing non-bailable offenses, has come up before this Court under Section 439 CrPC, seeking regular bail.
2. While issuing notices to the State, the Court had requested Mr. Nand Lal Thakur, Additional Advocate General to procure status report either through WhatsApp/e-mail and forward the same to this Court on e-mail id highcourt-hp@nic.in and also send the scanned copy or PDF copy of the status report to the learned Counsel for the petitioner on his WhatsApp number.
3. Mr. Nand Lal Thakur learned Additional Advocate General states that he has filed the status report through e-mail. He further submits that he has sent a copy of the status report to learned Counsel for the petitioner on his WhatsApp number. A printout of the status report is available on file.
4. I have read the status report(s) and heard Mr. Vaibhav Tanwar, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Nand Lal Thakur, learned Additional Advocate General, for the respondent/State and Mr. Ashwani Sharma & Ms. Shradha Karol, learned Advocates as Amicus Curiae, through video conferencing.
FACTS
5. The gist of the First Information Report and the status report is that on Dec 11, 2019, a Police party was conducting patrolling and traffic checking at a place known as Pungh within the jurisdiction of Police Station Sundernagar, Distt. Mandi, HP. During day time at around 2 O'clock, one bus bearing Punjab registration number, came from Sundernagar side, and it was bound from Manikaran to Chandigarh. Head Constable Lalit Kumar signaled the driver of the bus to halt on which he stopped the bus and parked it on the side. After that, the police started conducting checking the bus, and when they reached near seat No. 25, then they noticed that a person sitting on seat No. 25 was holding a back-pack on his lap. The police officials asked the said person to get his bag checked, and on this, he became perplexed and stated that there was nothing in his bag. This aroused suspicion in Head Constable Lalit Kumar's mind that this person might be having some articles of theft. After that, the police inquired from the passengers sitting in the adjoining seats, but all of them refused to associate as witnesses. Subsequently, the police associated the bus driver and the conductor as witnesses and, in their presence, inquired from the said person about his name, who revealed his name as Kuldeep Kaushik, resident of Rohtak Haryana. On checking the bag, police recovered Charas which, when weighed, measured 2.369 kilograms. Subsequently, the police party seized the contraband, complied with the procedural requirements under the NDPS Act, and the CrPC and arrested the said person, namely Kuldeep Kaushik. The Forensic Science Report tested the said substance to be cannabis.
6. After the arrest of Kuldeep, Kaushik police conducted his interrogation. He revealed to the police that he had befriended one Lalit @ Shivnath Baba in Rohtak Math. He also told that he, along with Lalit @ Shivnath Baba, would smoke cannabis, after now called as 'charas'. Twothree months ago, he said that Baba had visited Himachal Pradesh and told Kuldeep Kaushik that he had befriended one who smokes marijuana, and the said person had told Shivnath Baba that in case he needs charas then he would arrange for the same. On Dec 5/6, 2019, the said Shivnath @ Baba had called Kuldeep Kaushik on his mobile phone and asked him to bring rupees 1.5 to 2 lacs to purchase charas.
7. On Dec 10, 2019, said Kuldeep Kaushik reached Bhuntar along with the money and said Lalit @ Shivnath Baba was also there. They talked to each other on the phone and decided the pl
