IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. MP (M) No. 2583 of 2025 Reserved on: 16.01.2026 Date of Decision:23.01.2026 Mahender Singh ...Petitioner Versus State of Himachal Pradesh ...Respondent Coram Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Vacation Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?

For the Petitioner : Mr Kulwinder Singh Gill, Advocate.

For the Respondent/State : Mr Lokender Kutlehria, Addl.

Advocate General.

Rakesh Kainthla, Vacation Judge The petitioner has filed the present petition for regular bail in F.I.R. No. 52 of 2025, dated 22.05.2025, registered in Police Station Manpura, District Solan, H.P., for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 20 and 29 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS).

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

2. It has been asserted that the petitioner was arrested in a false case registered against him. He has no connection to the commission of the offence, and he was falsely implicated based on a statement made by the co-accused and the call details record. No recovery was effected from him. The police have filed the charge sheet, and no fruitful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody. The petitioner would abide by the terms and conditions that the Court may impose. Therefore, it was prayed that the petition be allowed and the petitioner be released on bail.

3. The petition is opposed by filing a status report asserting that the police were on a patrolling duty on 22.05.2025. They received a secret informant that the co-accused Vishwajit Mandal was selling charas and psychotropic drugs in his Clinic. The police reduced the information into writing and sent it to the Additional Superintendent of Police, Baddi. The police associated the Drug Inspector and independent witnesses and went to the Clinic of the co-accused. The police searched the Clinic in the presence of witnesses and recovered ₹425/-, a polythene packet containing 859 grams of charas and an electronic weighing scale. The Drug Inspector also found allopathic drugs in the Clinic. The co-accused could not produce any documents to keep the drugs. The police seized the charas, and the Drug Inspector seized the drugs. The charas was sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), Junga, H.P. and was confirmed to be an extract of cannabis and a sample of charas. The co-accused revealed the name of Mahinder Singh (the present petitioner) as the person who had kept the charas in the clinic, and his involvement was confirmed by call detail records. The police arrested the petitioner. No other case was registered against the petitioner. The police filed the charge sheet on 14.07.2025, and the matter is listed before the learned trial Court for recording the statements of the prosecution’s witnesses on

17.02.2026. Hence, the status report.

4. I have heard Mr Kulwant Singh Gill, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr Lokender Kutlehria, learned Addl.

Advocate General for the respondent/State.

5. Mr Kulwant Singh Gill Learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated based on the statement made by the co- accused. The police have filed the charge sheet before the Court, and no fruitful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody. The petitioner would abide by the terms and conditions that the Court may impose; hence, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and that the petitioner be released on bail.

6. Mr Lokender Kutlehria, learned Addl. Advocate General for the respondent/state submitted that the petitioner had kept the charas in the clinic of the co-accused. This is corroborated by the call detail records and the financial transactions. The narcotics are adversely affecting society, and no leniency should be shown to the petitioner. He prayed that the present petition be dismissed.

7. I have given considerable thought to the submissions made at the bar and