113 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: 30.03.2026 Deepak ..... Petitioner Versus State of Punjab .......Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BHARDWAJ Present: Mr. Rahul Bhargava, Advocate, for the petitioner.

Mr.Raj Karan Singh, AAG, Punjab.

Rajesh Bhardwaj, J. (ORAL)

1. Prayer in the present petition is for grant of regular bail to the petitioner in a case FIR No.15 dated 27.04.2022, registered under Sections 21, 25, 29 of NDPS Act, 1985 (Sections 411, 414, 468, 471 IPC added vide DDR No.14 dated 16.10.2022 and Section 473 IPC added vide DDR No.25 dated 18.10.2022), at Police Station Special Operation Cell, District (Intelligence Wing CID), Amritsar.

2. Succinctly, facts of the case are that on 27.04.2022, the police party while on patrolling received a secret information to the effect that Deepak (petitioner) alongwith Mehak Rai and Lovepreet Kaur formed a gang for smuggling of heroin and today also they would supply heroin to some party, which they have kept in a flat and would go to supply the same in a car. It was informed that in case of raid, they could be arrested alongwith the contraband. On receiving the information, a raiding team was constituted and raid was conducted at the place disclosed. All the accused persons were found sitting in vehicle No.PB-10-FE-0083 and on checking the said vehicle, a kit bag was recovered and on checking the same, 6 kgs of heroin was recovered. They failed to produced any licence regarding the possession of the same, and thus, on registration of the FIR, they were arrested on the spot. The investigation commenced. Samples taken were sent to the FSL. The petitioner approached the Court of learned Judge, Special Court, Amritsar praying for grant of regular bail. However, after hearing both the sides, the learned Court finding no merit in the same, dismissed the bail application filed by the petitioner vide order dated 25.07.2022. Earlier the petitioner approached this Court by way of filing CRM-M-42762-2022, however, the same was dismissed as withdrawn by this Court vide order dated 13.11.2024. Hence, the petitioner has approached this Court again praying for grant of regular bail by way of filing the present second petition. 3. It has been vehemently contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner has been falsely and frivolously implicated in the present case. He submits that as per the case of the prosecution, the FIR was registered on the basis of the secret information. He submits that there is violation of Section 42 NDPS Act in the present case. He submits that the alleged recovery has been effected from a public place, however, no independent witness has been joined. He submits that there is violation of the mandatory provisions of Section 50 of the NDPS Act. To buttress his arguments, he submits that though the petitioner is involved in three more cases, however, the same is not registered under the NDPS Act and he is on bail in those cases. He submits that the petitioner is behind the bars from the last about four years, but till date the prosecution has not been able to examine even half of the witnesses and thus, his right of speedy trial is miserably defeated. He, thus, has submitted that in the overall facts and circumstances, the petitioner deserves to be granted bail.

4. Per contra, learned State counsel has vehemently controverted the submissions made by counsel for the petitioner. It is submitted that the petitioner was specifically named in the secret information. He submits that recovery of 6 kgs of heroin was effected in the present case from the car in which the petitioner alongwith the co-accused was travelling. He submits that the contraband recovered in the present case is 06 kgs of heroin, which is a commercial quantity and thus, provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act are attracted in the present case. On instructions, he has submitted that out of total 20 prosecution witnesses, 03 witnesses have bee