Point of Law: Entire modus oprendi adopted by the police, wherein the applicant has been lifted from his residence and planted in the present case, puts the entire prosecution story is “obscura nubes dubiorum” (under the dark cloud of doubts).

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Shri Shrikrishna Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant; Shri M.C. Chaturvedi, learned A.A.G., assisted by Shri S.K. Pal, learned G.A. and Shri Ghanshyam Kumar, learned A.G.A. for the State. Perused the record.

2. Pleadings are exchanged between the parties and the matter is ripe for final submissions on merit.

3. Personal appearance of all the police officials pursuant to the earlier order of this Court dated 15.11.2021 is hereby exempted.

4. By means of the present bail application the applicant, who is facing prosecution in connection with Case Crime No.0356 of 2021, u/s 8/20 of N.D.P.S. Act, P.S.-Phase-2, District-Gautam Budh Nagar, is seeking his enlargement on bail during trial. The applicant is in jail since 14.6.2021.

5. Shri Shrikrishna Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant has drawn attention of the Court to the F.I.R. lodged by the Sub Inspector Ram Chandra Singh, P.S. Phase-II, NOIDA of Gautam Budh Nagar Commissionerate on 14.6.2021 at 13.34 hours against the lone named accused person Lalit Gupta u/s 8/20 of N.D.P.S. Act at P.S Phase-II, Gautam Budh Nagar with the allegation that the informant, who is Sub Inspector, along with his team members and co-accused Sonu to burst a bigger racket dealing in the psychotropic substance, went to Kakrala 112 Feet Road, the accused Sonu indicated a person sitting over the culvert, that he is a person who deals with the psychotropic substance. The police personnel overpowered that person and caught hold of him. He disclosed his name as Lalit Gupta S/o. Ramesh Chandra Gupta, Police Station - Sasni, District - Hathras. The nabbed accused himself disclosed that the plastic gunny bag which he is having, contains cannabis (Ganja) and thereafter a usual formality of asking the accused for alleged frisking in front of Gazetted Officer, as contemplated under Section 50 of the N.D.P.S. Act, was made by the informant and the samples of psychotropic substance were made for its testing. The total recovery shown is 29.600 Kgs. of cannabis in four packets, said to have been carried by the applicant without any valid license.

6. The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge/F.T.C.-2, Gautam Budh Nagar on 02.07.2021. Hence this bail application.

7. It is contended by counsel for the applicant that till date there is no laboratory report is on record to substantiate that the alleged seized substance is cannabis. Secondly, it was contended that the mandatory requirement of Section 50 of the N.D.P.S. Act has not been followed and as mentioned above, it was a mere formality of the F.I.R. by the informant. There is no independent witness to the alleged recovery, though the incident said to have been taken place in broad day light in an open area. In Para-18 of the affidavit the applicant himself has disclosed that from the Year 2001 to 2017 the applicant has got criminal antecedents of 11 cases, out of which only three cases relate to N.D.P.S. Act and rest of cases are of Section 60 of the Excise Act. Since the applicant is a resident of P.S.-Sasni, District-Hathras, and as such, interestingly all the 11 cases to the credit of applicant relate to P.S. Sasni, Hathras. From the criminal antecedents of the applicant, it is evident that there is no case registered outside the district Hathras against the applicant. In fact, it is a first case of P.S. Phase-II, Gautam Budh Nagar Commissionarate. In all these cases the applicant has been bailed out and facing trial. After 2017 there is no other case to the credit of the applicant.

8. Besides this, the primary argument made by the learned counsel for the applicant is that the way and the manner in which the applicant is being involved/dragged in the case is depictive of a typical approach by the police and a false implication by them in nabbing the applicant. Learned counsel for the applicant has filed supplementary affidavit dated 25.8.2021, in which he has tried to expose the typi