IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: 07.01.2025 Ranjit Singh ...Petitioner Versus State of Punjab …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Vivek Salathia, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Jasjit Singh, D.A.G., Punjab.

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ANOOP CHITKARA, J.

FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections

0024 23.11.2021 State Special 120, 120-B IPC, 3, 4, 5 of Operations Cell, Explosive Substance Amritsar (Amendment) Act, 1908 and

25 of Arms Act

1. The petitioner incarcerated in the FIR captioned above had come up before this Court under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking regular bail.

2. Per paragraph 12 of the bail application, the accused has the following criminal antecedents:-

Sr. No. FIR No. Date Offenses Police Station

1. 0121 05.09.2021 323, 341, 506, 148, 149 IPC Dhanaula, Bar-

nala

3. The facts and allegations are being taken from the status report filed by the State, which reads as follows:-

“2. That, the brief facts of the case are that, on 23.11.2021, Sub Inspector Nivritpal Singh received a secret information regarding radical inclination and anti-national activities of Petitioner Ranjit Singh s/o Surmukh Singh r/o Sohal PS Jhabal Dist. Tarn Taran. The information elaborated the association of Ranjit Singh with radical elements based in UK and other countries through social media and forming sleeper cells under the garb of social work and procurement of funds through different channels. Information further elaborated that a consignment of arms, ammunitions and explosives was procured by petitioner Ranjit Singh through UK based contacts. Information further elaborated the presence of above petitioner Ranjit Singh in the area of village Bundala, near Amritsar-Tarn Taran by-pass, for the execution of criminal activity. Thereafter, present case FIR No. 24 dated 23.11.2021 u/s 25 Arms Act, 3, 4, 5 Explosive Substances (Amendment) Act, 2001, 120, 120-B IPC, PS SSOC, Amritsar was registered against above petitioner.

3. That, investigation resulted in the arrest of petitioner Ranjit Singh with Motorcycle Bullet registration No. PB02DA6685, from the area of Village Bandala. The personal search of the petitioner Ranjit Singh resulted in recovery of 01 Pistol 9 MM with 05 live bullets alongwith Mobile Phone Samsung with 9815328828 9876004554 and Rs. 750/-INR, from his possession.

4. That, during the course of investigation, on the disclosure of petitioner Ranjit Singh, 01 Pistol of 9 MM along with 03 magazines and 20 live bullets and 02 hand grenades were recovered from the tube well room in his farms at village Sohal, Tarn Taran.”

4. The petitioner's counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent conditions and contends that further pre-trial incarceration would cause an irreversible injustice to the petitioner and their family.

5. The State’s counsel opposes bail and refers to the reply.

6. It would be appropriate to refer to the following portions of the reply dated 15-10-

2024, which read as follows:

“Role of the petitioner That during investigation, it was revealed that petitioner Ranjit Singh came in touch with one Jagjit Singh alias Harry s/o Joginder Singh r/o Jarman Colony Faridkot, now Jhabal Tarn Taran currently based in UK through social media platform, who was actively involved in radical activities, who motivated the petitioner. Subsequently, in October 2021, Petitioner retrieved a consignment of weapons/explosive from a designated location, arranged by above Jagjit Singh alias Harry r/o U.K. Petitioner was further instructed to secure the consignment, which was further to be used in big criminal activities on the instructions of Jagjit Singh Harry r/o U.K.

Evidence Against the Petitioner (a) That during investigation, petitioner suffered disclosure statement that he was associated with one Jagjit Singh alias Harry r/o U.K, involved in radical activities. 01 Pistol 9 MM with 05 live bullets were recovered from the personal possession of petitioner. Moreove