IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. MP (M) No. 1158 of 2025 Reserved on: 4.6.2025 Cr. MP (M) No. 1226 of 2025 Reserved on: 5.6.2025 Date of Decision: 16.06.2025.

1. Cr.MP(M) No. 1158 of 2025 Gagan Thakur ...Petitioner Versus State of Himachal Pradesh ...Respondent

2. Cr.MP(M) No. 1226 of 2025 Vijay Kumar ...Petitioner Versus State of Himachal Pradesh ...Respondent Coram Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?¹ No.

For the Petitioner(s) : Mr Ram Murti Bisht, Advocate, for the Petitioner in Cr.MP(M) No. 1158 of 2025 and Mr. Hemant Kumar Thakur, Advocate, for the petitioner in Cr.MP(M) No. 1226 of

2025.

For the Respondents/State : Mr Jitender Sharma, Additional Advocate General, with HC Harish Kumar, No. 84, IO, Police Station Rampur.

1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes.

Rakesh Kainthla, Judge Both the petitions have been filed for seeking regular bail in the same FIR; hence, these are being taken up together for disposal by way of a common judgment.

2. The petitioners have filed the present petitions seeking regular bail in FIR No. 30 of 2025, dated 04.03.2025, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 21, 27A and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (“in short NDPS Act”) and Section 111 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (“in short BNS”), registered at Police Station, Rampur, Shimla, H.P. It has been asserted that the police arrested the petitioners, Vijay Kumar and Gagan Thakur, based on the financial transactions with Sohan Lal and the call detail records. The petitioners are innocent, and they were falsely implicated in the present FIR. There is no evidence to connect the petitioners with the commission of the offence. They belong to respectable families, and there is no chance of their absconding. The petitioners would abide by the terms and conditions which the Court may impose. Hence, the petitions.

3. The petitions are opposed by filing status reports asserting that the police party was on patrolling duty on 03.03.2025. They found a vehicle bearing Registration No. T1124- HP7712N, parked on the roadside. The police went to the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle identified himself as Sohan Lal, and the lady sitting beside him identified herself as Geeta Sreshta. The police searched the vehicle and recovered a polythene packet containing 26.68 grams of chitta/heroin. The police seized the chitta/heroin and arrested the occupants of the vehicle. The call details of Sohan Lal and Geeta Sreshta were obtained, and their bank account details were checked. It was found that Sohan Lal had ₹3,26,639.41/- in his bank account and Geeta Sreshta had ₹1,19,498.52/- in her account. Statements of their bank accounts revealed that ₹45,61,780/ were credited to the account of Sohan Lal between 01.01.2023 to 04.03.2025, whereas ₹45,35,780/- were debited from his account maintained in the Central Bank of India. Further, ₹17,10,260/- were credited to his bank account maintained in Punjab National Bank, Branch Kotlu, (Mandi) between 01.01.2023 and 04.03.2025. They revealed on inquiry that this money was obtained by them through the sale of chitta/heroin. The police arrested Adital Rathore, Gagan Thakur-

petitioner, Raj Kumar Mehta, Rajan Mehta, Sanjeev Sharma, Kushal Chauhan, Ujjawal Pandit, Mohit Aggrawal Naveen Chauhan on 21.03.2025 for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 29 of the NDPS Act. They were in touch with Sohan Lal and had transferred a huge amount to his account. Sohan Lal was running an organised crime syndicate. Hence, Section 111 of BNS was also added. The police arrested Ritik Jistu, Pushpendra, Pawan Chhetri, Digambar Singh, Dheeraj Sharma, Vipul, Honey Lal, Raman Kaith, Shashi Kumar, Dharam Sen alias Kaku Soni, Hukam Chand alias Rinku Verma, Tankehswar Dutt alias Nagu Verma, Vimal, Mahender Kumar, Aashish Kumar, Vijay Kumar-petitioner, Saurav, Hanish Thakur and Lalit Kaith based on the bank transactions.