Himachal Pradesh High Court

Harpreet Singh vs State Of Himachal Pradesh on 22 November, 2024

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA

Cr. MP (M) No.2270 /2024.

Date of Decision: 22nd November, 2024.

     Harpreet Singh                                                          .....Petitioner.
                                            Versus

     State of Himachal Pradesh                                              .....Respondent.


     Coram

The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Bipin Chander Negi, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1

For the Petitioner: Mr. Piyush Verma, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Anuj Bali, Advocate.

For the Respondent: Mr. R.K. Negi, Addl. Advocate General.

HC Manjit Kumar, No.24, IO, PS West Boileauganj Shimla, HP is present in person along with police record.

Bipin Chander Negi, Judge (oral).

The present bail petition has been filed under

Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita

(BNSS) for grant of regular bail. The same arises out of

FIR No.173 of 2024, dated 06.10.2024, registered at Police

Station West Boileauganj, Shimla, HP under Sections 21

and 29 of the NDPS Act.

2. Heard counsel for the parties and perused the

status report.

3. Brief facts giving rise to the present case are that

the present bail petitioner was apprehended by the Police

at about 10:35 PM at Old Bus Stand, Shimla. At the said

time, the police were on patrolling duty. The bail-

Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?

petitioner was riding a motorcycle bearing No.PB-5AQ-

2762 and was accompanied by one Sh. Ranjeet Singh son

of Sh. Kala Singh.

4. On search of the motorcycle, 9.910 grams of

Heroin/Chitta were recovered from under the seat of the

motorcycle. The contraband apprehended was sealed,

NCB-1 Form was filled in as is required. The said

contraband was closed in a cloth parcel. Seal was handed

over to one Constable-Arjun. Photography and

videography was got conducted by the IO. The motorcycle

was taken into the police custody. The Rukka was sent to

the Police Station Shimla (West), on the basis of which FIR

was registered. Spot map was prepared and medical

examination of the accused was got done. During the

investigation, the accused had disclosed that they had

purchased the Chitta from one Autorickshaw Driver at

Chandigarh and the same had been purchased for self-

consumption.

5. Investigation, in the case at hand, is complete.

Other co-accused-Ranjeet Singh stands enlarged on bail

vide order dated 13.11.2024 passed by the Special Judge

ND&PS Act (CBI Court) Shimla.

6. Personal liberty is a very precious fundamental

right. The same is to be curtailed only when it becomes

imperative, according to the peculiar facts and

circumstances of each case.

7. The object of bail is to secure the attendance of the

accused person at his trial by reasonable amount of bail.

The object of bail is neither punitive nor preventative.

8. The consequence of pre-trial incarceration are

grave. A person presumed innocent is subjected to

psychological and physical deprivations of jail. Further, a

jailed individual is prevented from contributing to the

preparation of his defence. The burden of his detention

falls heavily on the innocent members of his family.

9. The petitioner is stated to be a young man of 24

years of age. Nothing unfavourable has been stated in the

status report qua the social circumstances of the petitioner

whereby it can be made out that the petitioner is likely to

betray the confidence, that the Court may place in him to

turn out to take justice at the hands of the Court.

10. Petitioner is permanent resident of village

Charagdhani, PO Lokerian, Tehsil and District Fazilka,

Punjab. The respondent/State has not expressed any

apprehension regarding him fleeing from the justice and

adversely affecting the trial. In any case, the petitioner can

be put to terms for the purposes of safe, secure and

unobstructed completion of trial.

11. Hence, after going through the material available

on record and considering the overall facts and

circumstances of the case, this Court finds that the present

is a fit case where judicial discretion to admit the petitioner

on bail is required to be exercised in his favour.

Accordingly, the bail application is allowed and it is ordered

that the petitioner, who has been arrested by the police, in

case FIR No.173 of 2024, dated 06.10.2024, registered at

Police Station West Boileauganj, Shimla, HP under Sections

21 and 29 of the NDPS Act, shall be forthwith released on

bail, subject to his furnishing personal bond to the tune of

Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lac) with one local surety in the

like amount, to the satisfaction of learned trial Court. This

bail order is subject, however, to the following conditions:-

(i) Petitioner shall attend the trial Court on each and every date of hearing and if prevented by any reason to do so, seek exemption from appearance by filing appropriate application;

(ii) Petitioner shall not tamper with the evidence or hamper the investigation in any manner whatsoever;

(iii) Petitioner will not leave India without prior permission of the Court;

(iv) Petitioner shall not make any inducement, threat or promise, directly or indirectly, to the victim and Investigating Officer or any person acquainted with the facts of the case to dissuade

him/her from disclosing such facts to the Court or any Police Officer;

(v) Petitioner shall inform the Station House Officer of the concerned police station about his place of residence during bail and trial. Any change in the same shall also be communicated within two weeks thereafter. Petitioner shall furnish details of his Aadhar Card, Telephone Number, Email, PAN Card, Bank Account Number, if any; &

(vi) It is made clear that in case petitioner is arraigned as an accused, in future, in any FIR, then his bail is liable to be cancelled. It is open for the Investigating Agency to move appropriate application in that regard.

12. Needless to say that the Investigating agency shall

be at liberty to move this Court for cancellation of the bail, if

any of the aforesaid conditions are violated by the

petitioner.

13. Be it stated that any expression of opinion given in

this order does not mean an expression of opinion on the

merits of the case and the trial Court will not be influenced

by any observations made therein.

14. The Registry is directed to forward a soft copy of

the bail order to the Superintendent, Model Central Jail

Kanda, Shimla, District Shimla, H.P., through email, with a

direction to enter the date of grant of bail in the e-prison

software.

15. In case, the petitioner is not released within a

period of seven days from the date of grant of bail, the

Superintendent, Model Central Jail Kanda, District Shimla,

H.P., is directed to inform this fact to the Secretary, DLSA,

Kasumpti. The Superintendent, Model Central Jail Kanda,

District Shimla, District Shimla, H.P., is further directed that

if the petitioner fails to furnish the bail bonds, as per the

order passed by this Court, within a period of one month

from today, the said fact be submitted to this Court.

16. The petition stands accordingly disposed of. A copy

of this order be sent to the Superintendent, Model Central

Jail Kanda, District Shimla, District Shimla, H.P. and the

learned trial Court by FASTER.

17. A downloaded copy of this order shall be accepted

by the learned Trial Court while accepting the bail bonds

from the petitioner and in case, said Court intends to

ascertain the veracity of the downloaded copy of the order

presented to it, same may be ascertained from the official

website of this Court.

(Bipin Chander Negi) Judge

22nd November, 2024 (Gaurav Rawat)

DN: C=IN, O=HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL

VANDNA HIMACHAL PRADESH SHIMLA, Phone=d3b84f3143a60e693f007f9c5e0fe88 152279f1d9f450a0255823cfc38862034, PostalCode=171001, S=Himachal Pradesh, SERIALNUMBER=3a417623218f5838c6af7

SHARMA 9de7dc1906f731266758b23a4f74fad98f0022 165e3, CN=VANDNA SHARMA Reason: I have reviewed this document Location: