In bail applications involving commercial quantities of contraband under the NDPS Act, the court must satisfy the stringent requirements of Section 37 to grant relief, necessitating evidence that the accused is not guilty and will not commit further offences while on bail.

ORDER

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

2. The applicants are the accused Nos.2 and 4 in Crime No.1004/2025 of Thenhipalam Police Station, Malappuram 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

19.12.2025, at about 4.30 p.m., the accused Nos.1 to 4 were found in possession of 239.14 grams of MDMA in contravention of the NDPS Act and Rules. It is further alleged that at the instance of the accused No.5, accused No.6 supplied the contraband to accused No.7, who supplied it to accused No.8, who in turn supplied to accused No.1 and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Sri.Shabu Sreedharan, the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri. M.C.Ashi, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicants with the alleged crime; hence, they are 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 applicants, and they are not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicants were remanded to judicial custody on

19.12.2025. A perusal of the case diary would reveal that the accusation against the applicants is very serious, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on their 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. The contraband was seized from the car in which the applicants were travelling. It is true that on chemical analysis it was found that the contraband seized from the possession of the applicants is Methamphetamine. Still, it is a 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 applicants are not guilty of the offences charged. The applicants have not been able to point out the existence of any such facts or circumstances as are sufficient to justify recording a finding that they are not guilty of the offences charged.

Considering the nature of the crime, the gravity of the offence, the complicity of the applicants in it, and the facts and circumstances mentioned above, I am of the view that the applicants cannot be released on bail at this stage. The bail application, accordingly, is dismissed.