The single judge bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of Mukesh Pal @ Makhan Vs State of Haryana held that the report of the FSL forms the foundation of the case of prosecution and in case the same is not there the entire case of prosecution falls to ground.
BRIEF FACTS
The factual matrix of the case is that the FIR was registered under Sections 21(b)/27-A/29/61/85 of the NDPS Act against the petitioner. Thereafter, the matter was investigated and a report under section 173 CrPC was presented before the trial court. However, the same was not accompanied by the report of FSL. Furthermore, the petitioner moved an application under Section 167(2) Cr.P.C. for his release on bail before the Court on the ground that in the absence of report of FSL and the same was dismissed by the trial court.
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner referred to the judgement titled 2020 (4) Law Herald 3188 Julfkar Vs. State of Haryana. It was further submitted that several co-ordinate Benches have granted bail in view of the fact that the matter in hand has been referred to a Division Bench and is still pending.
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the state has contended that since the mandate of Cr.P.C. is filing of challan within the stipulated period and since the challan had been filed within 60 days in the instant instance, no case for grant of bail is made out.
COURT’S OBSERVATION
The hon’ble court held that a case under the NDPS Act can only survive in case the prosecution is able to establish that the article recovered is indeed a contraband and which can only be established on the basis of its chemical examination, which is normally got done through FSL established by the Government. In other words, the report of the FSL forms the foundation of the case of prosecution and in case the same is not there the entire case of prosecution falls to ground.
The high court relied upon the judgment titled Mohd. Arbaz and others Versus State of NCT of Delhi. The high court deem appropriate to extend the concession of bail in terms of Section 167(2) Cr.P.C. to the petitioner while also keeping in view the fact that the petitioner has been behind bars since the last more than 9 months.
CASE NAME- Mukesh Pal @ Makhan Vs State of Haryana
CITATION- CRR-1046-2022 (O&M)
CORUM- Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill
DATE- 29.11.22
Read Judgment @LAtestlaws.com
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