JUDGMENT  :

Jasgurpreet Singh Puri, J. (Oral) 

CRM-11039-2024 in CRM-M-59819-2023

Present application has been filed for placing on record copy of judgments as Annexures P-7 to P-12.

Application is allowed as prayed for subject to all just exceptions.

The accompanying documents are taken on record as Annexures P-7 to P-12.

Main cases

1. Both the present petitions are taken up together for final disposal with the consent of learned counsel for the parties since both the petitions arise out of the same FIR and the prayer in both the cases is for the grant of regular bail.

2. Both the petitions have been filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the grant of regular bail to the petitioners in FIR No.09 dated 21.01.2023, under Sections 21 of NDPS Act and Section 25 of Arms Act, 1959, registered at Police Station Mamdot, District Ferozepur.

3. The brief facts of the present case are that the present FIR was registered against 09 named and 10 unnamed persons on the basis of secret information received by the police that there will be delivery of contraband and arms across the border and in pursuance of the same there was a recovery of 02 kgs of heroin, one pistol and two magazines and 12 live cartridges from the fields of one Kulwant Singh who is not named in the FIR nor he is an accused in the present petition. The present petitioners have been named in the FIR alongwith 07 other persons. Three of the other accused persons who have been named in the present FIR i.e. Amrjeet Singh, Mangal Singh and Arshdeep Singh were exonerated by the police during the course of investigation. However, so far as Amarjeet Singh, is concerned, later on challan was presented against him and he filed bail petition bearing No.CRM-M-50114-2023 before this Court which was allowed on 16.11.2023 vide Annexure P-5. On the basis of secret information, the present FIR was registered but as per the prosecution itself, there was no recovery from the petitioners.

4. CRM-M-60721-2023 has been filed by petitioner namely Sukhdev Singh @ Babbi Bhaleria and CRM-M-59819-2023 has been filed by petitioner Khalara Singh @ Munna @ Khari@ Khlara and Mr. K.S. Sidhu, Advocate for the petitioners has appeared on behalf of both the petitioners.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioner Khalara Singh @ Munna @ Khari @ Khlara is in custody for about 11 months and 02 days and petitioner Sukhdev Singh is in custody for about 01 year and 01 month. He further submitted that it is a case where the petitioners were falsely implicated in the present FIR only because of the reason that earlier they were involved in some other cases and submitted that so far as petitioner Khalara Singh is concerned he was earlier involved in 14 more cases including 01 case under the NDPS Act but he already stands acquitted in 09 cases and remaining cases are pending against him and he is already on bail in 06 cases. So far as the petitioner Sukhdev Singh is concerned, he is involved in 04 more criminal cases out of which 03 are pertaining to NDPS Act and he is on bail in all the cases since the quantity involved in the aforesaid cases was non-commercial. Learned counsel further submitted that the cross border contraband smuggling nowadays is a routine practice and the police is not able to lay its hands on the actual culprits and some of the local inhabitants around the village are being falsely implicated so as to justify their actions that some action had been taken in the aforesaid confiscation. He further submitted that it is a case where the aforesaid heroin and arms were recovered from the fields of one Kulwant Singh whereas the aforesaid Kulwant Singh has not been arraigned as an accused and because of the pendency of some cases against the petitioners they have been named and there had been no recovery at all from the present petitioners. He further submitted that respondent-State has filed status report in both the cases from which nothing can be ascertained or