Under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, bail for offences involving commercial quantities of narcotics can only be granted if the court has reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and is unlikely to commit similar offences while on bail.

ORDER

This application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 , seeking regular bail.

2. The applicant is the accused No.1 in Crime No.148/2026 of Cheranelloor Police Station, Ernakulam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 22(c) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, NDPS Act).

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

13.03.2026 at 17.11 hours, the applicant and accused No.2 were found in possession of 1.8 grams of Ecstacy, 10.26 grams of MDMA and 0.1024 grams of LSD Stamp. Thus, the applicant has committed the above offences.

4. I have heard Sri.Sam Isaac Pothiyil, the learned counsel for the applicant and Smt.Sreeja V., the learned Senior 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 Senior 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 13.03.2026. A perusal of the case diary would reveal that the accusation against the applicant is very serious, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on his part. Since the quantity involved is commercial, the jurisdiction of this Court to grant bail is circumscribed by the provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act. Bail can be granted in a case where there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such an offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

7. A perusal of the case records would show that

1.8 grams of Ecstasy, 10.26 grams of MDMA (found to be methamphetamine on chemical analysis), and 0.4235 grams of LSD stamps were seized from the possession of the applicant and accused No. 2. The quantity of LSD stamps seized is of commercial quantity.

8. Having considered the submissions and after having gone through the materials on record, I am afraid that there are no substantial or probable causes for believing that the applicant is not guilty of the offences charged. The applicant has not been able to point out the existence of any such facts or circumstances as are sufficient to justify recording a finding that he is not guilty of the offences charged.

9. Considering the nature of the crime, the gravity of the offence, the complicity of the applicant in it, and the facts and circumstances mentioned above, I am of the view that the applicant cannot be released on bail at this stage.

The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the grounds for arrest were not duly communicated to the applicant and hence he is entitled to bail on that ground. However, such a ground has not been canvassed in this bail application. Hence, this bail application is dismissed with liberty to the applicant to file a fresh application for bail on the said ground.