The court denied bail due to established prima facie evidence of conscious possession of MDMA, emphasizing the serious nature of the allegations and ongoing investigation into international drug trafficking.

JUDGMENT

SANJEEV NARULA, J.:

1. The present application under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 , [“CrPC”], seeks grant of regular bail in FIR No. RC2202023E0016 dated 06^th July, 2023, under Section 8 read with Sections 22 , 23 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 , [“NDPS”], registered at P.S. CBI EO-II, New Delhi. At the outset it is noted that even though the Applicant has not been explicitly named in the FIR, he was arrested pursuant to an investigation conducted by CBI under the said FIR.

2. Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution is as follows:

2.1 On 04^th July, 2023, the National Crime Bureau, New Delhi, [“NCB”] received a reference from the Interpol Drug Unit concerning three parcels that had arrived in India from Belgium and were suspected to contain prohibited drugs. The details of the recipients of these parcels are as follows: – (i) Arjun Gupta at Mumbai, (ii) Anil Kumar at Baraut Tehsil, Prayagraj and (iii) Rohit Yadev at Gokul Dhaba, Prayagraj. The Interpol reference further informed NCB that 2 out of the 3 parcels were detained by Customs and the third was at a collection point awaiting further action. Upon receiving this intelligence, the NCB contacted the Customs Department to ascertain the status of the parcels. The Customs Department confirmed that two of the parcels were custody.

2.2 Acting on this information, the two suspected parcels detained by Customs were seized by the CBI at the Foreign Post Office, Kotla Road, New Delhi. In the presence of two independent witnesses from the Customs Department, the parcels were opened at the Foreign Post Office. Upon inspection, the parcels were found to contain pills of various colours, which, when tested using an NDPS Detection Kit, tested positive for MDMA. Consequently, on 06^th July, 2023, 2 CBI cases bearing RC 2202023E0016 and RC 2202023E0017 were registered in CBI EO-II, New Delhi under Section 8 read with Sections 22, 23, and 29 of the NDPS Act, against the persons named as ‘receivers’ on the parcels, as well as unknown others – i.e., Rohit Yadev and unknown others and Anil Kumar and unknown others. 2.3 The FIR which forms the subject matter of the present application, i.e., RC 2202023E0016, pertains to a parcel containing 1880 grams of MDMA; while FIR bearing No. RC 2202023E0017, relates to a parcel containing 1852 grams of MDMA.

2.4 Subsequently, CBI formulated a plan to apprehend the suspects in the case. In order to secure the original psychotropic substance and to avoid any untoward incident during the controlled delivery process, two dummy parcels were prepared, in lieu of the 2 original parcels seized. The dummy parcels were forwarded through the Foreign Post Office to the designated addresses in order to lead the receiver to believe that they were the original parcels containing psychotropic substances, thereby enabling the arrest and apprehension of the receiver while taking possession of the incriminating parcels. A team comprising CBI officials and independent witnesses from the Customs Department was formed and dispatched to the relevant Post Office in Baraut, Prayagraj. The CBI team also briefed the officials at the Post Office about the operation, including the identification and apprehension process for the suspected receivers.

2.5 During investigation on 11^th July, 2023, the Applicant – Mohit Jaiswal, both in-person as well as telephonically enquired about the parcels addressed to ‘Rohit Yadev’ and ‘Anil Kumar’ from a Postman at the Baraut Post Office. Later the same day, the Applicant arrived at the Post Office with his face partially concealed using a white cloth (gamcha). He approached the Postman’s counter to collect the parcels. Upon being identified as Mohit Jaiswal, the Postman handed him the parcel addressed to ‘Rohit Yadev’. When the Applicant attempted to sign on the delivery slip, the Postman discreetly signalled to the waiting CBI team. However, sensing the presence of the CBI team, the