THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURENDER
CRIMINAL PETITION NO.9988 OF 2023
ORDER:
1. This Criminal Petition is filed by the petitioner/A1 to enlarge him on bail in NCB F.No.48/1/4/2023/NCB/SUB ZONE/HYD of Narcotics Control Bureau, Hyderabad Sub-Zone.
2. On 11.04.2023, the NCB officials having received specific information regarding three persons namely Srinivasulu, Shivaprasad and Ramesh were trafficking ganja from Andhra Pradesh were waiting on the Nehru Outer Ring on Vijayawada- Hyderabad National Highway, Pedda Amberpet Toll Plaza. Around 6.30 a.m in the morning, two vehicles were stopped. The first vehicle is Maruti Suzuki Swift car in which A1 was driving the car and this petitioner was sitting in the passenger seat. Another Mahendra Verito car was also stopped, which was being driven by A3. The NCB officials conducted preliminary test and found that bags in the car were found to be ganja.
3. From the Maruti Swift car, 42 kgs were recovered and from the Verito car, 168 kgs. Since it was found that all the accused were working together, the NCB officials have filed one complaint 2 against the accused reflecting the seizure as 210 kgs of ganja from the accused.
4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner/A2 would submit that A2 was given a ride in the car and he did not have knowledge about what was in the car. It cannot be said that when the petitioner was found in the car, it amounts to conscious possession of the ganja that was found in the car. The NCB officials had committed error in clubbing both the seizures from the Maruti Suzuki Swift car and Verito Car, without any basis. Learned counsel relied on the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme court in Bharat Chaudhary v. Union of India in Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.5703 of 2021 dated 13.12.2021, wherein it is observed as follows:
"11. In the absence of any psychotropic substance found in the conscious possession of A-4, we are of the opinion that mere reliance on the statement made by A-1 to A-3 under Section 67 of the NDPS Act is too tenuous a ground to sustain the impugned order dated 15th July, 2021. This is all the more so when such reliance runs contrary to the ruling in Tofan Singh (supra). The impugned order qua A-4 is, accordingly, quashed and set aside and the order dated 2nd November, 2020 passed by the learned Special Judge, EC & NDPS Cases, is restored. As for Raja Chandrasekharan [A-1), since the chare sheet has already been filed and by now the said accused has remained in custody for over a period of two years, it is deemed appropriate to release him on bail, subject to the satisfaction of the trial Court."
5. The petitioner was found sitting in the passenger seat of the car in which 42 kgs of ganja was found. The said contraband is 3 commercial quantity. As seen from the complaint, phone call details inter se the accused was filed by the NCB along with the complaint. In the application for bail, this Court cannot conclude that the petitioner was given a ride by the driver of the car and he had nothing to do with the contraband found in the car. It is a question of knowledge of the petitioner and his association with the other accused, which can only be decided during trial. Prima facie, on the basis of the evidence produced by the NCB regarding the phone calls in between the accused prior to they being caught, it cannot be said that this petitioner was a stranger to the other accused.
6. In the judgment relied on by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the Hon'ble Supreme Court was dealing with a case wherein the accused No.4 in the said case was implicated only on the basis of confession of other accused. In the present case, the petitioner was physically found in the car and was arrested by the officials. The facts of the case differ and the said judgment cited by the learned counsel has no application in the facts of the present case. The quantity being commercial quantity, this court is not inclined to grant relief of bail.
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7. Since the petitioner and other accused are in jail, the trial Court is directed to conclude the trial expeditiously taking up the case on day to day basis as contemplated under Section 309 of Cr.P.C. The trial shall be concluded within a period of six months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. The petitioner is at liberty to move for bail under changed circumstances.
8. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is dismissed. Consequently, miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed.
_________________ K.SURENDER, J Date: 08.11.2023 kvs 5 THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURENDER CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 9988 OF 2023 Dt.08.11.2023 kvs