IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 09.09.2025 Pronounced on: 24.09.2025 Kuldeep Singh @ Kuldip Singh ...Petitioner Versus State of Haryana …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Himmat Singh Deol, Advocate, for the petitioner.

Ms. Shaveta Sanghi, DAG, Haryana.

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ANOOP CHITKARA, J.

FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections

30 18.02.2025 Sector-20, Panchkula 22(c) of NDPS Act (Section 29 of NDPS Act added later on)

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. As per paragraph 21 of the bail application, the petitioner has no criminal antecedents.

3. The facts and allegations are taken from the reply status report by the State. On 18.02.2025, based on secret information, the Police seized 2600 tablets containing tramadol, which weighed 338 grams from the possession of the main accused Raj Kapoor. The Investigator claims to have complied with all the statutory requirements of the NDPS Act, 1985, and BNSS, 2023.

4. During custodial interrogation, the main accused, Raj Kapoor, confessed before the Police officer that he procured the contraband from the petitioner, who used to run chemist shop. Thereafter, petitioner was arrested and in his disclosure statement, he disclosed that the co-accused Ishwar Chand Garg came to his shop before one week and got transferred the amount for the purchase of drug from his mobile No.76269xxxx to my mobile no.70098xxxx. Based on such a confession before the police, the petitioner was arraigned as an accused.

5. 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 his family.

6. The State’s counsel opposes bail and refers to the status report.

REASONING:

7. It would be appropriate to refer to paragraphs 7 & 9 of the status report, which reads as follows:

“7. That during the course of investigation after finding sufficient incrementing evidence present petitioner was got arrested on dated 22.02.2025 as per the law. That his disclosure statement is recorded and he has stated that he runs chemist shop in the name of Kuldeep Medical Store from last 20 years. Further stated that co-accused namely Ishwar Chand came to his shop before one week and got transferred the amount for the contraband/Alprazolam tablets from his mobile number 76269xxx to my mobile number 70098xxxx. Further stated that he used to procure the same contraband from one person namely Ajay son of Raj Kumar resident of Sector 65, Jagatpura, District Mohali, Punjab. That further as per the statement he was got recovered the mobile phone and also demarcated the place where he used to supply the contraband. The copy of the disclosure statement of present petitioner has been annexed herewith as Annexure R-

2.

8. xxxx xxx

9. That during course of the investigation, it was found that co-accused namely Ishwar Chand used to procure the huge quantity of contraband/Alphazolam tablets from the present petitioner and in this regard use to transfer the money from the UPI/Google Pay into the account of the present petitioner which was registered in the name of his wife namely Yashika. The copy of the relevant portion of the transactions has been annexed herewith Annexure R-4.”

8. As per paragraph 13 of the status report filed in connected petition i.e. CRM-M-

20964-2025, the 2600 tablets contained Tramadol and its weight is 338 grams.

9. Dealing in 338 grams of tramadol in contravention of the NDPS Act, 1985, constitutes an offense under the following provisions and notifications:

Drug's Small & Commercial Qty. suggested by Committee report Notification No. & date S.O. 1762 (E) dated 26.04.2018 Specified as small & Commercial in S.2(viia) & 2(xxiiia) NDPS Act, 1985 Notification No. & dated S.O.1762(E) 4/26/2018

0

10. The quantity allegedly involved i