IMPORTANT POINT
The presence of criminal antecedents significantly influences bail decisions, emphasizing the need to protect society from habitual offenders.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The petitioner has filed the present petition for seeking regular bail. It has been asserted that the petitioner was arrested vide F.I.R. No. 191 of 2024, dated 14.11.2024, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 21 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short ‘NDPS Act’) registered at Police Station Kangra, H.P. The prosecution case is based on the absurd, baseless and imaginary story. No case is made out against the petitioner. Two cases are pending against him in which he was granted bail. He was exonerated in another case. The petitioner had no role in the commission of crime. No recovery was made from him. The petitioner has a 40% disability in his left leg. The petitioner would abide by all the terms and conditions which the Court may impose. Hence, the petition.

2. The petition is opposed by filing a status report asserting that the police party was on patrolling duty on 14.11.2024. They found a vehicle bearing registration No. HP-40A-8578 parked near Smella Railway Station, Link Road, at 6:30 p.m. The police went to the vehicle and found that three persons were sitting in it. They could not give any satisfactory reason for parking their vehicle. The police checked the vehicle in the presence of Ajay Kumar and Anil Kumar and found 5.77 grams of heroin inside the dashboard. The driver revealed his name as Ravinder Kumar. The person sitting beside him revealed his name as Aseem and the other person sitting on the rear seat revealed his name as Sanjay Kumar. The police arrested the occupants of the vehicle and seized the heroin. The heroin was sent to SFSL Junga for chemical analysis and was found to be containing Diacetylmorphine (heroin). Two F.I.R.s are pending against the petitioner. He was convicted in F.I.R. No. 156 of 2011 dated 13.11.2011, for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of the NDPS Act and was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for 15 days, pay a fine of Rs.20,000/-. The petitioner is a drug peddler. He would indulge in the commission of similar offences, and he would intimidate the witnesses on his release on bail. Hence, the status report.

3. I have heard Mr. Yashveer Singh Rathore, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Tarun Pathak, learned Deputy Advocate General for the respondent-State.

4. Mr Yashveer Singh Rathore, the learned counsel of the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated. He is suffering from 40% disability. The quantity of narcotics found in the possession of the petitioner in earlier cases was intermediate. The rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act do not apply to the present case. Therefore, he prayed that the present petition be allowed. He relied upon the judgment of this Court in Vijay Kumar vs State of H.P. 2024:HHC:5122 in support of his submission.

5. Mr. Tarun Pathak, learned Deputy Advocate General, submitted that the petitioner was involved in the commission of a similar offence earlier. He was convicted by the competent Court of law for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of the NDPS Act. This shows that the petitioner is a habitual offender. He would indulge in the commission of a similar offence in case of release on bail. Therefore, he prayed that the present petition be dismissed.

6. The parameters for granting bail were considered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ajwar v. Waseem (2024) 10 SCC 768: 2024 SCC OnLine SC 974, wherein it was observed as under page 783: -

“Relevant parameters for granting bail

26. While considering as to whether bail ought to be granted in a matter involving a serious criminal offence, the Court must consider relevant factors like the nature of the accusations made against the accused, the manner in which the crime is alleged to have been committed, the gravity of the offence, the role attributed to the accused, the criminal antecedents of the accused, the probability of tampering of t