The court ruled that in cases of intermediate quantity possession under the NDPS Act, the rigorous conditions of Section 37 are not applicable, allowing for bail.

O R D E R

This is the second bail application filed under Section

483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking regular bail.

2. The applicant is the accused No.1 in Crime No.79/2024 of Manjeri Excise Range Office, Malappuram District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 22 (c) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, 'the NDPS Act').

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that on

17.12.2024 at 03:45 a.m., the applicant was found in possession of 5.283 gms of Methamphetamine and he was arrested. During interrogation, the applicant revealed that the contraband article was transferred to him by accused No.2 and on the basis of the said information, another quantity of 244.069 gms of Methamphetamine was recovered from the possession of accused No.2 and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Sri.P.C.Muhammed Noushiq, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.U.Jayakrishnan, the learned Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and he is not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicant was remanded to judicial custody on

17.12.2024. A perusal of the case diary would show that the applicant was found in possession of 5.283 grams of Methamphetamine, which is an intermediate quantity, on 17.12.2024 at 03.45 a.m. on a public road. He was arrested and the contraband was seized. Upon questioning, the applicant disclosed that accused No.2 had supplied the Methamphetamine to him. Accordingly, on the same day at 06:48 a.m., 244.069 grams of Methamphetamine was seized from the possession of accused No.2 and he was arrested. Thus, the contraband seized from the possession of the applicant is only 5.283 grams of Methamphetamine, which is an intermediate quantity. Therefore, rigour of Section 37 of the NDPS Act is not applicable in this case. The first bail application was considered only on the ground of failure to communicate the grounds of arrest and there was no adjudication on merits. The investigation is almost over. For these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the applicant is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions: -

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

(ii) The applicant shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. He shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicant shall not attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or in any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

(vi) The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(vii) The application, if any, for deletion/modification of the bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdict