Muhammed Musthafa vs State Of Kerala
2023 Latest Caselaw 10817 Ker

Citation : 2023 Latest Caselaw 10817 Ker
Judgement Date : 19 October, 2023

Kerala High Court

Muhammed Musthafa vs State Of Kerala on 19 October, 2023

          IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                           PRESENT
        THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MOHAMMED NIAS C.P.
 THURSDAY, THE 19TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2023 / 27TH ASWINA, 1945
                 BAIL APPL. NO. 4387 OF 2022
  CRIME NO.47/2021 OF EXCISE ENFORCEMENT AND ANTI NARCOTIC
              SPECIAL SQUAD, PALAKKAD DISTRICT


PETITIONER/8th ACCUSED:

          MUHAMMED MUSTHAFA
          AGED 40 YEARS
          MANNARATH HOUSE ERUMATHALA P.O,
          ALUVA ERNAKULAM - 683112, PIN - 683112

          BY ADVS.
          ATHIRA A.MENON
          SRUTHY N. BHAT
          T.THASMI


RESPONDENT/STATE:

          STATE OF KERALA
          REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
          HIGH COURT OF KERALA, PIN - 682031

          BY ADVS.
          PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
          ADDL.DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PROSECUTION(AG-11)

          SMT.T.V.NEEMA, SR.PP

     THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
19.10.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
 B.A.No.4387/2022
                                     ..2..



                   MOHAMMED NIAS C.P., J.
                    ---------------------
                          B.A.No. 4387/2022
           ---------------------------
                   Dated this the 19th day of October, 2023

                               ORDER

This application is filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal

Procedure, seeking regular bail.

2. The petitioner is the 8th accused in Crime No. 47/2021 of the

Exercise Enforcement and Anti Narcotic Special Squad, Palakkad, for

having allegedly committed offences punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)

(C), 27A, 28, 29 and 30 of the NDPS Act.

3. The prosecution case is that, on 12/09/2021 at around 8.15

AM at Padinjaire Yakkara, on the Salem-Kanyakumari National

Highway, the excise circle Inspector of the excise enforcement squad

intercepted three vehicles bearing registration No.KL-40-H-452, KL-07-

CG-45677 and KL-33-G-6670. Among the aforementioned vehicles, KL-

40-H-452 is a tourist bus, and the other two vehicles are motorcars. The

excise inspector found handing over of articles from the tourist bus to the

aforesaid two other cars. During the search, the circle inspector found B.A.No.4387/2022 ..3..

145.5 kgs of dry Ganja from all three vehicles. Accused Nos. 1 to 5 have

been arrested from the spot itself. The prosecution alleged that

petitioner/accused No.8 conspired with other accused and provided

financial assistance and other support in the matter of transporting the

Ganja from outside the State and thereby committed the offence.

4. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the

learned Public Prosecutor.

5. The learned Senior counsel for the petitioner would say that

the petitioner is totally innocent and falsely implicated with ulterior

motives. At any rate, he points out that the accused is in custody from

21.02.2022, and continued custody of the petitioner is unnecessary. The

learned Senior Counsel submitted that accused Nos. 4, 5 and 6 are

enlarged on bail by orders by this Court in B.A.Nos. 6490/2023,

3479/2023 and 6488/2023 respectively.

6. The learned public prosecutor opposed the petition. Though

the Prosecutor opposed the bail application, having gone through the

orders referred to above, I feel there is no reason why similar treatment

accorded to the accused in those cases should not be granted to the

petitioner herein. True that commercial quantity is involved in relation to B.A.No.4387/2022 ..4..

which crime the petitioner is accused, however, taking note of the

judgments on the point, the absence of criminal antecedents and the fact

that the petitioner has been in custody since 21.02.2022, and the chance

of the trial getting over anytime soon being remote, the rigour of Section

37 of the NDPS Act has to be dispensed with at this stage. The allegation

against the 8th accused/ petitioner herein is the same as the allegations

made against the 6th accused. In such circumstances, I am inclined to

grant bail on grounds of parity. In the result, the petitioner is released on

bail subject to the following conditions:-

(i) The petitioner shall be released on bail on executing a bond for

Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) each with two solvent

sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the

jurisdictional Court;

(ii) The petitioner shall report before the Investigating Officer

every Saturday between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. till the final report

is laid;

(iii) The petitioner shall furnish his residential address, including his

mobile phone number, to the investigating officer as well as to

the court.

B.A.No.4387/2022 ..5..

(iv) The petitioner shall not tamper or attempt to tamper with the

evidence or influence or try to influence the witnesses

(v) The petitioner shall not be involved in any other crime while

on bail.

(vi) The petitioner shall surrender his passport, if any, within seven

days from the date of his release before the Court concerned,

and if the release of the passport is required at a later period,

the petitioner shall be at liberty to move an appropriate

application for the same before the court having jurisdiction. If

he has no passport, he shall file an affidavit to that effect

before the court concerned on the date of execution of the