The central legal point established in the judgment is the importance of balancing personal liberty with the interest of the State in criminal cases, especially in cases of non-bailable offences.

ORDER :

1. The petitioner is one of three accused persons who are undergoing trial in a criminal complaint filed by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Jammu for alleged commission of offences under sections 8/20/29/60 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Svt. 1985 (in short ‘NDPS Act, 1985’) pending trial before the court of the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba on File no. 22/Spl.Challan.

2. The petitioner has been implicated as an accused in the case on the basis of an event as set out in the complaint that on the basis of secret information received from reliable resources on 22.10.2014 that a Truck bearing registration no. JK13A-4571 on its way from Kashmir via Dhar Road, Samba to Kalibari, Kathua is meant for an alleged delivery of consignment of Charas. This input resulted in an investigation team set up which came to position a Nakka at Dhar Road near village Nud, Samba on 22.10.2014 at about 2200 hours keeping in company two by standers as a witnesses.

3. As alleged, the said Truck came to be intercepted driven by accused no. 2 – Nazir Ahmed Lone along with company of accused no. 1 – Irshad Ahmed Parray and the Truck cleaner, namely, Zakir Mushtaq Bandh. From the search of the said Truck bearing registration no. JK13A-4571, the alleged contraband of Charas, being 3.840 kg obtaining in the form of 38 round shape balls, was recovered.

4. Upon an enquiry made by the team from the accused no. 2 - Nazir Ahmed Lone, the driver of the said Truck, it came to be allegedly divulged that the alleged contraband was belonging to the petitioner and the delivery of the consignment had taken from the petitioner and was to be delivered to the petitioner at Kali Bari for which purpose the petitioner had paid the driver and others an amount of Rs. 10,000/-.

5. Upon the basis of this, the petitioner came to be investigated upon and by an alleged statement under section 67 of the NDPS Act, 1985 an admission came to be attributed to the petitioner that the alleged consignment was his and was being transported at his instructions.

6. The petitioner came to suffer arrest and is languishing in the custody from October 2014 onwards till date and case came to be taken cognizance.

7. The petitioner came to submit an application on File no. 168/2021 for seeking bail before the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba which came to be rejected on a technical ground in terms of an order dated 30.03.2022 against which this Court in a Bail Application no. 122/2022 came to direct the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba to consider the bail application on merits. This direction came to be given in terms of an order dated 27.06.2022 in furtherance whereof the petitioner came to seek revival of the very said bail application on File no. 168/2021 which came to be rejected by the trial court of the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba in terms of an order dated 30.03.2022 holding the petitioner not entitled to bail.

8. From a perusal of the order dated 30.03.2022 fact is forthcoming that prosecution has examined number of its witnesses, in fact 7 witnesses out of 8 listed witnesses, and some of the witnesses’ statements are part recorded awaiting to be cross examined.

9. There is an observation by the trial court of the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba in which it is meant that all the prosecution witnesses examined in the case have fully supported the prosecution case.

10. On the one hand the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba is on record saying that out of 8 witnesses 7 witnesses have been examined and statement of 5 prosecution witnesses are part recorded to be cross examined yet, then where was the occasion for the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba to observe that the prosecution witnesses have fully supported the prosecution case. This was perhaps premature on the part of the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Samba to have viewed the case from that angle that too while dealing with a bail application of an accused u