Rinku Kumar @ Ajay vs State Of Punjab
2023 Latest Caselaw 1574 P&H

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                                                                CRM-M-2910-2023 (O&M)



          IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
                         CHANDIGARH
                                                                                   218



                                                 CRM-M-2910-2023 (O&M)
                                                 Date of Decision: 24.01.2023

     Rinku Kumar @ Ajay                                            ...Petitioner

                                      Versus

     State of Punjab                                               ...Respondent


     CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GURVINDER SINGH GILL

     Present:     Mr. Parminder Walia, Advocate,
                  for the petitioner.

                  Mr. Siddharth Attri, AAG, Punjab,
                  assisted by ASI Gurbaj Singh.


     GURVINDER SINGH GILL, J. (Oral)

1. The petitioner seeks grant of regular bail in respect of a case registered

against him vide FIR No.60 dated 15.03.2019 at Police Station City Sri

Muktsar Sahib, Punjab, under Sections 18/29 of the NDPS Act and

Sections 465/471/120-B IPC.

2. As per the prosecution, on 15.03.2019, the petitioner alongwith his co-

accused was found in possession of 30 Kgs. of opium. It is further the

case of the prosecution that the petitioner also entered into criminal

conspiracy to prepare forged registration certificate of car bearing

registration No.HR-26-BE-8445.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner has

falsely been implicated in the present case. It has also been submitted that

identically situated co-accused namely Shanty has already been granted

bail by this Court vide order dated 15.12.2022 passed in CRM-M-44121-

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CRM-M-2910-2023 (O&M)

2022 (Annexure P-2). It has further been submitted that the petitioner

has been behind bars for a substantial period of more than 3 years & 10

months and that since the trial is proceeding at snail's pace, the petitioner

deserves the concession of regular bail.

4. On the other hand, learned State counsel has submitted that since the

petitioner was caught red handed while in possession of huge quantity of

'opium', no case for grant of bail is made out. Learned State counsel has,

however, not disputed the fact that the petitioner has been behind bars

since the last more than 3 years & 10 months. It has been informed that

as on date only 6 out of cited 22 PWs have been examined and that the

petitioner stands involved in 1 more case.

5. This Court has considered rival submissions.

6. Since the petitioner seeks grant of bail mainly on account of long

custody, it is apposite to refer to a few judgments of Hon'ble Supreme

Court in this regard wherein Hon'ble Supreme Court has granted the

concession of bail solely on ground of long custody:

     Case No.           Date     of Title of case           Period    which   the
                        Decision                            accused had undergone
                                                            when granted bail by
                                                            Hon'ble      Supreme
                                                            Court
     Criminal   Appeal 07.02.2020    Chitta Biswas @ 1 year & 7 months
     No.245/2020                     Subhas Vs. The State
                                     of West Bengal
     Criminal   Appeal 12.10.2020    Amit Singh Moni Vs. 2 years & 7 months
     No.668/2020                     State of Himachal
                                     Pradesh
     Special Leave to 01.08.2022     Nitish Adhikary @ 1 year & 7 months
     Appeal (Criminal)               Bapan Vs. The State
     No.5769/2022                    of West Bengal
     Special Leave to 04.08.2022     Shariful Islam @ 1 year & 6 months
     Appeal (Criminal)               Sarif Vs. The State of
     No.4173/2022                    West Bengal
     Criminal   Appeal 05.08.2022    Gopal Krishna Patra 2 years, 1 month & 17
     No.1169/2022                    @ Gopalrusma Vs. days
                                     Union of India
     Special Leave to 22.08.2022     Mohammad Salman About 2 years
     Appeal (Criminal)               Hanif Shaikh Vs. The
     No.5530/2022                    State of Gujarat


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                                                                CRM-M-2910-2023 (O&M)



     Criminal   Appeal 22.11.2022     Karnail Singh Vs. 1 year & 8 months
     No.2027-2022                     The State of Odisha
     Special Leave to 25.11.2022      Karim Adaldar Vs. 10 months
     Appeal (Criminal)                The State of West
     No.8653-2022                     Bengal

7. Keeping in view the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case

particularly the long custody of the petitioner and the fact that only 6 out

of the cited 22 PWs have been examined till date, the petition merits

acceptance and is hereby accepted.

8. The petition, as such, is allowed and the petitioner is ordered to be

released on regular bail on his furnishing bail bonds/surety bonds to the

satisfaction of learned trial Court/Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty

Magistrate concerned.

9. It is, however, directed that in case the petitioner is found to be indulging

in similar offence again, the prosecution would be at liberty to move an

application for cancellation of bail before this Court.

     24.01.2023                                   (GURVINDER SINGH GILL)
     Vimal                                                JUDGE

                         Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes/No
                         Whether reportable:        Yes/No




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