The single judge bench of the Tripura High Court held that mere filing of charge-sheet is not a ground at all or has no persuasive value to grant bail to an accused of allegedly committing offence under the penal provisions of NDPS Act.
Brief facts
The present application is filed under Section 439(2) read with Section 482 Cr.P.C. in order to cancel the bail granted to the accused by the learned Special Judge in the case registered under Sections 21(C)/25/29 of the NDPS Act.
Contentions of the Respondent
The Respondent contended that the police authorities have mechanically registered case registered under Sections 21(C)/25/29 of the NDPS Act. It was furthermore contended that even the ground of arrest was also not communicated to the accused persons. Also, Section 37 of the NDPS Act nowhere suggests that after filing of charge sheet the accused can be kept in custody.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that when granting bail to an accused person who has been arrested under the NDPS Act, the court or the public prosecutor must be satisfied that there is a reasonable ground to believe that the accused person did not conduct the claimed offense.
The court relied upon the judgment titled Narcotics Control Bureau vs. Mohit Aggarwal.
The court furthermore observed that mere filing of charge-sheet is not a ground at all or has no persuasive value to grant bail to an accused of allegedly committing offence under the penal provisions of NDPS Act.
The court noted that it is clear from the material on record does not suggest anything that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty of committing the alleged offence under Sections 21(C)/25/29 of the NDPS Act.
Based on these considerations, the court quashed and set aside the order by the learned special judge in which the bail was granted.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court allowed the application for cancellation of bail.
Case Title: The State of Tripura V. Jalil Miah
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Arindam Lodh
Case No.: BA 27 OF 2024
Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. Raju Datta, P.P.
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. R. Nath, Advocate.
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