Himachal Pradesh High Court
Rajinder Giri vs State Of H.P on 30 November, 2023
Author: Virender Singh
Bench: Virender Singh
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA.
Cr.M.P(M) No. 2952 of 2023
.
Reserved on : 29.11.2023
Decided on: 30th November, 2023
Rajinder Giri .......Applicant
Versus
State of H.P. ...Respondent
of
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Virender Singh, Judge.
For the applicant:
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Whether approved for reporting?1
Mr. George, Advocate
For the respondent: Mr. Tejasvi Sharma, Addl. A.G
with Ms. Leena Guleria, Dy. A.G
assisted by ASI Dev Dutt, I.O.,
Police Station, Sadar, Mandi.
Virender Singh, Judge.
By way of present application, under Section 439
of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as
'Cr.PC'), applicant-Rajinder Giri has sought his release, on
bail, during the pendency of trial, in case FIR No. 56 of 2020,
dated 18th February, 2020, registered with Police Station
Sadar Mandi, District Mandi, H.P., under Section 20 of the
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (hereinafter
referred to as 'NDPS Act').
1 Whether the reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes.
2. According to the applicant, he has been arrested
on 18th February, 2020 on the ground of allegedly possessing
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contraband weighing 1.154 kgs charas. After the
investigation of the case, according to the applicant, the
police has submitted the charge-sheet before the Court of
of
learned Special Judge-II, Mandi, District Mandi, H.P.
3. The prosecution has cited 16 witnesses and the
evidence of the prosecution is not yet complete. As such, on
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the ground of delayed trial, it has been prayed that the
applicant may kindly released on bail, as he is in judicial
custody for the last three years and nine months.
4. Apart from this, relief has also been sought on the
ground that the I.O. has not complied with provisions under
Section 52-A of the NDPS Act.
5. On the basis of above facts, Mr. George, learned
Counsel appearing for the applicant, has given certain
undertakings, for which, the applicant is ready to abide by, in
case, he is ordered to be released on bail, during the
pendency of the trial.
6. To buttress his contention, learned counsel for the
applicant has relied upon the decisions of a Co-ordinate
Bench of this Court in Cr.M.P(M) No. 1139 of 2023 titled as
Ashok Kumar vs. State of H.P and Cr.M.P(M) No. 493 of 2023
titled as Madan Lal vs. State of H.P.
.
7. Along-with the application, the applicant has also
placed on record the photocopies of the zimini orders passed
by the learned trial Court. This has been done in order to
of
demonstrate that there is inordinate delay in conclusion of
the trial.
8. When put to notice, the police has filed the status
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report, disclosing therein, that the applicant was found in
conscious and exclusive possession of 1.154 kgs charas,
while travelling in bus No. HP-68-7585 enroute from Manali
to Kangra, which was allegedly intercepted at Bindrabani by
I.O. S.I. Manoj Walia, Incharge SIU, Mandi.
8.1. The investigation was conducted and the
contraband, so recovered, was sent to SFSL, Junga after
receiving the positive report, the challan was filed in the
competent Court of law on 27.05.2020. According to the
police, only one witness remains to be examined and the
statements of other witnesses have been recorded. The case
is now stated to be fixed on 02.04.2024.
8.2. On the basis of above facts, it has been prayed
that there is no delay in the trial, as such, a prayer has been
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made to dismiss the application.
9. The applicant has approached this Court on the
ground of delayed trial. The contraband allegedly recovered
of
from the possession of applicant is commercial quantity of
charas, as such, rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act are not
applicable, in the present case.
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10. So far as the law relied upon by the learned
counsel for the applicant is concerned, with due respect to
the decisions rendered by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court,
the same are not applicable to the facts and circumstances of
the present case, as in the present case, out of 16 witnesses
cited by the prosecution, only one witness has been left to be
examined.
11. On 21.10.2023, the learned trial Court has passed
the following order:-
"Remaining PW was summoned for today. No PW
present. Request on behalf of Insp. Sushma
Kapoor, received which is considered and allowed
for the reasons stated therein for today only.
Let, PW SI Sushma Kapoor, be summoned for
02.04.2024.
The custody of accused is further handed over back
to jail till 02.04.2024, on the said date, he be
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produced before this court at 10AM sharp for
further orders."
12. Witness SI Sushma Kapoor has been ordered to be
cited as a witness by the learned trial Court vide order dated
of
02.08.2023.
13. Perusal of the order dated 02.08.2023 passed by
the learned trial Court shows that the application has been
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allowed by the learned trial Court in view of no objection
made by learned counsel for the applicant and SI Sushma
Kapoor has been ordered to be summoned for 23.09.2023.
14. On 21.10.2023, the matter was ordered to be
adjourned for 02.04.2024. The applicant is in judicial
custody from the date of his arrest i.e. 18.02.2020. In such
situation, although this Court is satisfied with the pace of
trial, but, it is a fit case where a direction is required to be
issued to the learned Special Judge-II, Mandi to prepone the
date fixed for recording the evidence of the prosecution
witness and conclude the trial on or before 31st December,
2023.
15. In order to achieve the said goal, the learned trial
Court is at a liberty to prepone the date, so fixed and can also
resort to record the statement of the witness through video
conferencing, as per Video Conferencing Rules.
.
15. Consequently, there is no occasion for this Court
to release the applicant solely on the ground of delay in trial,
at this stage. Hence, the application is dismissed, however,
of
with a direction to the learned trial Court to conclude the trial
on or before 31st December, 2023.
16. Any of the observations, made hereinabove, shall
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not be taken as an expression of opinion, on the merits of the
case, as these observations, are confined, only, to the disposal
of the present bail application.
November 30, 2023 ( Virender Singh )
(naveen) Judge
