Punjab-Haryana High Court
Kulvir Singh vs State Of Punjab on 3 March, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
210
CRM-M-33722-2020
Date of decision: 03.03.2021
Kulvir Singh .....Petitioner
Versus
State of Punjab .....Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI
Present : Mr. Fatehjeet Singh, Advocate
for the petitioner.
Mr. Amit Mehta, Sr. D.A.G., Punjab
for the respondent-State.
****
ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, J (ORAL)
The petitioner has filed the present (third) petition under
Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for grant of
regular bail in case FIR No.114 dated 25.07.2018 registered under
Section 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,
1985 (for short, "the NDPS Act") at Police Station Goraya, District
Jalandhar to which Section 29 of the NDPS Act was added lateron.
His first petition for grant of regular bail was dismissed as
withdrawn vide order dated 30.04.2019 while second petition for grant
of regular bail was dismissed on merits vide order dated 29.01.2020.
Custody certificate has been filed by the learned State
Counsel today in Court which is taken on record.
The petition has been opposed by the learned State
Counsel. However, no reply has been filed by the respondent-State.
I have heard learned Counsel for the petitioner and learned
State Counsel and gone through the relevant record.
Learned Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that
1 of 3
despite directions given by this Court for expediting the trial of the
case, the prosecution evidence has not yet been concluded. Father of
the petitioner is suffering from serious ailments and his surgery is
required. The petitioner also has three minor children to look after.
The petitioner is in custody since 25.07.2018. The trial is likely to take
long time due to restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
No useful purpose will be served by further detention of the petitioner
in custody during trial. Therefore, the petitioner may be granted regular
bail.
In support of his arguments, learned Counsel for the
petitioner has placed reliance on the observations made by Hon'ble
Supreme Court in its judgment passed in Criminal Appeal
No.245/2020 titled as 'Chitta Biswas alias Subhas Vs. The State of
West Bengal decided on 07.02.2020 and by this Court in judgments
passed in CRM-M-906-2020 titled as 'Jorawar Singh Vs. State of
Punjab' decided on 14.01.2021 and CRM-M-6687-2020 titled as
'Avtar Singh Vs. State of Punjab' decided on 09.02.2021.
On the other hand, learned State Counsel has submitted
that the petitioner is accused of having kept in his conscious possession
commercial quantity of heroin. Rigors of Section 37(1)(b) of the NDPS
Act are applicable to the case. The petition for grant of regular bail
filed by the petitioner earlier was dismissed on merits vide order dated
29.01.2020. No new ground for grant of regular bail to the petitioner is
made out. Therefore, the petition may be dismissed.
In Gajanand Aggarwal Vs. State of Orissa and others :
2006 (4) RCR (Criminal) 311 decided on 18.09.2006, it was observed
2 of 3
by Hon'ble Supreme Court that orders granting bail are not orders of
any precedent value.
In the present case the second petition for grant of regular
bail filed by the petitioner was dismissed on merits vide order dated
29.01.2020. As per medical certificate dated 14.08.2020 father of the
petitioner was diagnosed as a case of 'fissure in ano' and requires
hospitalisation and surgical treatment. During any such hospitalisation
and surgical treatment father of the petitioner can be looked after by his
wife and other members of the family. There is no material change in
the facts and circumstances of the case on appreciation of which the
second petition for grant of regular bail was dismissed on merits.
Consequently, no new ground for grant of regular bail to the petitioner
is made out.
In view of the above, the present petition for grant of
regular bail to the petitioner is hereby dismissed.
03.03.2021 (ARUN KUMAR TYAGI)
Vinay JUDGE
Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes/No
Whether reportable : Yes/No
3 of 3
