Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
In Re : Santu Saha vs State Of Tamil Nadu Reported In ... on 14 July, 2021
14.07.2021
Court No.30
Krishnendu
Bail Granted
CRM 10818 of 2020
(Via video Conference)
In Re:- An application for bail under section 439 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure ;
And
In Re : Santu Saha
Petitioner
Mr. Ayan Bhattacharya
Ms. Ankita Bose
For the Petitioner
Mr. Y.J.Dastoor, ld. A.S.G.
Mr. Phiroze Edulji
Mr. Debu Chowdhury
For the N.C.B.
The present application under Section 439 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure has been preferred by the petitioner in
connection with Special Case No. 27 of 2019 under section 8(C)
read with sections 21(C)/25/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act (arising out of N.C.B. Crime No.
22/NCB/KOL/2019).
Mr. Bhattacharya, learned advocate appearing for the
petitioner submits that the petitioner has been falsely implicated
and there had been no recovery of any contraband substance from
the possession of the petitioner. After receiving notice under
section 67 of the NDPS Act, the petitioner appeared before the NCB
officers on 14th September, 2020 and on 15th September, 2020 he
was arrested and since then he is languishing in custody. Upon
conclusion of investigation, charge sheet has also been submitted
in the month of October, 2020.
Mr. Bhattacharya argues that the petitioner had been roped in
on the basis of some confessional statements made by the him and
one co-accused person, which are inadmissible in evidence, in view
of the judgment delivered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the
case of Tofan Singh - Vs- State of Tamil Nadu reported in 2020 SCC
OnLine SC 882.
Mr. Dastoor, learned Additional Solicitor General appears on
behalf of the NCB and opposes the petitioner's prayer placing
reliance upon the statements of accused persons, as recorded
under Section 67 of the NDPS Act. He submits that the matter
involves recovery of contraband substance above commercial
quantity. The call detail records clearly reveal the direct
involvement of the petitioner in the alleged offence and in view of
such incriminating materials on record, the petitioner's prayer for
bail needs to be refused.
In Tofan Singh (supra), it has, inter alia, been held that the
confessional statements under section 67 of the NDPS Act are
inadmissible in law. Prima facie, apart from the confessional
statements there is no other substantive material evidence against
the petitioner and in our opinion, the call detail records and the
telephonic conversation of the petitioner with co-accused persons
may give rise to a mere suspicion but would not justify a case of
conspiracy. In the said conspectus, the rigors of section 37 of the
NDPS Act are not attracted.
In the present pandemic situation and rapid proliferation of
the virus, prayer for bail needs to be considered liberally unless
custodial interrogation is absolutely necessary [See the order
passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Re: Contagion of Covid-19
Virus in Prisons].
Accordingly, we allow this application and direct that the
petitioner, namely, Santu Saha shall be released on bail upon
furnishing a bond of `20,000/- with two sureties of like amount
each, one of whom must be a local, to the satisfaction of the
learned Judge, Third Special Court under NDPS Act, Malda and on
condition that he shall reside at Gangarampur and shall not leave
the jurisdiction of Gangarampur Police Station save and except for
attending the learned trial court on all the dates, as fixed for
hearing.
The petitioner shall also meet the Officer-in-Charge of
Gangarampur Police Station once a fortnight until further orders.
He shall not intimidate the witnesses or tamper with evidence
in any manner whatsoever.
It is made clear that in the event the petitioner fails to comply
with the aforesaid directions without any justifiable cause, the
learned trial court would be at liberty to cancel the petitioner's bail
without any further reference to this Court.
With the aforesaid observations, the application for bail,
being CRM No.10818 of 2020, is disposed of.
All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly
downloaded from the official website of this Court.
(Suvra Ghosh, J) (Tapabrata Chakraborty, J)
