Point of Law : In the absence of there being any other material available with the prosecution connecting the petitioner with the commission of offence alleged against him, except the statement of the accused recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act and CDR details, the confessional/voluntary statement of the accused/co-accused, cannot form basis for not ordering his release.

ORDER :

By way of this petition filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioner has prayed for grant of bail in NCB Crime No. 43/2021, dated 23.06.2021, registered under Sections 8, 20, 29 & 60 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘the NDPS Act’) at Narcotic Control Bureau, Chandigarh Zonal Unit, Sector 25(W), Chandigarh.

2. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner has argued that the petitioner is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case, allegedly on the basis of a statement, which has been made by one of the accused, from whose active possession, as per the respondent, the alleged contraband was recovered. Learned counsel has submitted that besides the statement of the main accused, recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, there is no material available with the respondent, which connects the petitioner with the commission of offence alleged against him and in this view of the matter, the petitioner is entitled for bail, more so, in view of the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Tofan Singh Vs. State of Tamil Nadu (2021) 4 Supreme Court Cases 1, in which, Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that a confessional statement recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act will remain inadmissible in trial under the NDPS Act and further the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State by (NCB) Bengaluru Vs. Pallulabid Ahmad Arimutta and Anr., Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 242 of 2022, in which case, Hon’ble Supreme Court while dealing with an appeal preferred by the prosecution against the grant of bail by the High Court in that case, upheld the judgment passed by the High Court, granting bail to the accused therein, on the ground that the accused stood arrested only on the basis of the statement of other accused made under Section 67 of the NDPS Act. On these basis, it has been prayed that the petition be allowed and the petitioner be ordered to be released on bail.

3. The petition has been opposed by learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent on the ground that as commercial quantity of contraband has been recovered from the main accused and further the petitioner has been named as the source, from whom the contraband was purchased by the said accused, therefore, no case is made out for release of the petitioner. Learned Senior Counsel has also argued that in the course of investigation, details of telephonic conversation between the petitioner and main accused have also emerged. Learned Senior Counsel further argued that taking into consideration the stage at which the trial is, release of the petitioner may otherwise cause prejudice to a fair trial.

Learned Senior Counsel relied upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Union of India through Narcotics Control Bureau, Lucknow Vs. Md. Nawaz Khan (2021) 10 Supreme Court Cases 100 and on the strength thereof, he submitted that the present petition being devoid of any merit, be dismissed.

4. In rebuttal, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the issue of CDR details has also been taken care of by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State by (NCB) Bengaluru (supra) and in terms of the said judgment, on the basis of CDR details coupled with the statement of other accused under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, accused cannot be kept in custody unless there is other material on record, which demonstrates the involvement of the accused with the commission of offence.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and also gone through the status report and the record of the case which was made available for perusal of the Court by the respondent.

6. In the present case, as per the prosecution, two persons, namely, Shri Sanjay Kumar and Shri Gopal Krishan were apprehended by the team of NCB on the basis of a secret information on 23.06.2021 near Swarghat, District Bilaspur, from whose possession, contraband weighing 8 kg.300 grams was recovered. After the arrest of San