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HIGH COURT OF DELHI
TINIMO EFERE WOWO – Appellant
Versus
THE STATE GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI – Respondent
BAIL APPLN.-2677/2020
Foreign nationals are not barred from bail in NDPS cases if they make out a case in their favor, and the rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act do not apply to controlled substances.
Headnote:
BAIL - NDPS ACT - CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE - FOREIGN NATIONAL - [SUMMARY] The court granted bail to a foreign national accused of possessing controlled substances under the NDPS Act, holding that the rigors of Section 37 of the Act did not apply to controlled substances and that foreign nationals were not barred from bail if they made out a case in their favor.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a foreign national, was arrested for possessing 3.5 kg of pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance under the NDPS Act, and 15 gm of cocaine. He was charged under Sections 9A and 25A of the NDPS Act, as well as Section 14 of the Foreigners Act and Section 471 IPC.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner was not entitled to parity with other co-accused persons who had been released on bail, as they had not been charged under the offense of forgery and cheating. However, the court held that the rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act did not apply to the petitioner's case, as the substance recovered was a controlled substance and not a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. The court also held that foreign nationals were not barred from bail if they made out a case in their favor.
Issues: Whether the rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act applied to the petitioner's case; Whether foreign nationals were barred from bail in NDPS cases.
Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on the judgments in Gudikanti Narasimhulu and Others Vs. Public Prosecutor and Sartori Livio vs. State to hold that foreign nationals were not barred from bail if they made out a case in their favor. The court also relied on several judgments of the Delhi High Court to hold that the rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act did not apply to controlled substances.
Final Decision: The court granted bail to the petitioner on his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- with two solvent sureties each of the like amount.
BAIL APPLN. 2677/2020
Page 1 of 9
(VIA VIDEO-CONFERENCING)
*
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Reserved on
: 20.12.2021
%
Pronounced on : 05.01.2022
+
BAIL APPLN. 2677/2020
TINIMO EFERE WOWO
..... Petitioner
Through:
Mr. Vijay Bishnoi, Mr. Abhishek
Gautam and Mr. Amar Phogat, Advs.
versus
THE STATE GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI
.... Respondent
Through:
Ms. Rajni Gupta, APP for the State
with SI Manish Kumar.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJNISH BHATNAGAR
ORDER
RAJNISH BHATNAGAR, J.
1.
The present bail application has been filed by the petitioner
under Section 439 Cr.P.C. seeking regular bail in case FIR No. 33/2018
under Section 9/21/25A of NDPS Act & under Section 471 IPC &
Section 14 of the Foreigners Act registered at P.S. Crime Branch,
Delhi.
This is a digitally signed Judgement.
NEUTRAL CITATION NO: 2022/DHC/000080
BAIL APPLN. 2677/2020
Page 2 of 9
2.
Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that on 09.02.2018, a
secret information was received by ASI Anil Kumar that one person
namely Vinay Sharma would come at about 4:30 PM to supply Pseudo
Ephedrine to a person near Chanakya Market Bus Stand, Janakpuri,
Delhi. On this information, a raid was conducted and one accused
namely Vinay Sharma was apprehended and 10 Kg. Pseudo-Ephedrine
was recovered from his possession. On the basis of above recovery,
the present FIR was registered. During investigation, accused Vinay
Sharma was arrested and he was interrogated and he disclosed that he
has procured the recovered substance from one Piyush of Jirakpur near
Chandigarh. It was also disclosed by the arrested accused that he can
take the police to Chandigarh and Jirakpur to point out the places,
where the supplier namely Piyush used to meet him to deliver the drugs
to him.
3.
During PC remand accused Vinay Sharma was taken to Jirakpur,
Punjab to apprehend the supplier of recovered pseudo-ephedrine. On
this, a call was made on the phone of source of contraband namely
Piyush Srivastava by accused Vinay Sharma and he was asked to meet
him near Sethi Dhaba, Jirakpur, Punjab. On this, source Piyush came
near Sethi Dhaba, Ambala road, Jirakpur and he was apprehended from
there. After serving notice under section 50 NDPS Act, cursory search
of accused Piyush was conducted but nothing incriminating thing could
be recovered from his possession. But he confessed to have delivered
This is a digitally signed Judgement.
NEUTRAL CITATION NO: 2022/DHC/000080
BAIL APPLN. 2677/2020
Page 3 of 9
the recovered substance to accused Vinay Sharma. On this, accused
Piyush Srivastava was arrested in the present case and intimation
regarding his arrest was conveyed to local police station. He was
interrogated there but he did not co-operate and did not disclose as to
from where he has procured the recovered pseudo-ephedrine. After
this, he was brought to Delhi and again subjected to sustained
interrogation. During interrogation he disclosed that he has procured
the recovered Pseudo Ephedrine from one Praveen of Chandigarh, who
is known to him as he used to purchase medicine from him. Accused
Piyush also disclosed that he has kept the remaining quantity of Pseudo
Ephedrine which he procured from Praveen Kumar in his office at
Panchkula, Haryana. He told that he didn't know the complete address
of Praveen but he can help police in tracing from their meeting points.
4.
Four days PC remand of accused Piyush Srivastava was obtained
and he was taken to Zirakpur, Punjab and Chandigarh at the address of
the alleged source namely Parveen Gupta but Parveen Gupta was not
found present there. On this, a notice was served to Mohan Lal Gupta
(brother of alleged source Parveen Gupta). Search of the office of the
accused situated at Phase-I, Industrial Area, Panchkula, Haryana was
also made but nothing incriminating could be recovered from there.
One day more PC remand of accused Piyush Srivastva was obtained
and on his pointing out 1.5 Kg. Pseudo-ephedrine was recovered on
16.02.2018 from Singhu Border, Narela, Delhi.
This
