Ranjit Singh Alias Rana vs State Of Punjab
2026 Latest Caselaw 3116 P&H

Punjab-Haryana High Court

Ranjit Singh Alias Rana vs State Of Punjab on 8 April, 2026

                 222
                                IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT
                                               CHANDIGARH

                                                                 CRM-M No.8475 of 2026
                                                                 Date of Decision: 08.04.2026
                                                                 Date of Uploading: 08.04.2026


                 Ranjit Singh alias Rana
                                                                                   .....Petitioner.
                                                        Versus
                 State of Punjab
                                                                                 .....Respondent.


                 CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUMEET GOEL

                                                        *****
                 Present:-         Mr. Vikram Satpal Anand, Advocate
                                   for the petitioner.

                                   Mr. Adhiraj Singh Thind, AAG, Punjab.

                 SUMEET GOEL, J.(Oral)

Present petition has been filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya

Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, for grant of regular bail to the petitioner

in case bearing FIR No.70 dated 28.07.2019, registered for the offences

punishable under Sections 21/27-A/29/61/85 of the Narcotic Drugs and

Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short 'NDPS Act'), at Police

Station Special Task Force, Phase-IV, Mohali, District STF Wing.

2. The gravamen of the FIR in question pertains to the recovery

of 1 Kgs. of heroin from co-accused Balwinder Singh and drug-money of

Rs.1.2 crore from the petitioner and other co-accused. The contraband

alleged to have been recovered is indubitably commercial in nature.

3. Learned Senior counsel for the petitioner submits that the

petitioner is in custody since 31.03.2021. Learned counsel for the petitioner

has further submitted that the mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act have

not been complied with, and thus, the prosecution case suffers from

inherent defects. Learned counsel for the petitioner has iterated that the trial

is delayed and the liability thereof cannot be fastened upon the petitioner.

Learned counsel has further submitted that co-accused, namely, Balwinder

Singh, Kuldeep Singh @ Babbu and Gagandeep Singh @ Jarmanjit Singh

@ Bhola have already been granted regular bail by a Co-ordinate Bench of

this Court vide orders dated 18.03.2025, 26.05.2025 and 19.08.2025

respectively. Learned counsel has further iterated that the petitioner has

suffered incarceration for more than 04 years and 11 months. Thus, regular

bail is prayed for.

4. Learned State counsel has opposed the present petition by

arguing that the allegations raised are serious in nature and thus the

petitioner does not deserve the concession of the regular bail. Learned State

counsel seeks to place on record custody certificate dated 07.04.2026 in

Court, which is taken on record.

5. I have heard counsel for the rival parties and have gone

through the available records of the case.

6. The petitioner was arrested on 31.03.2021 whereinafter,

investigation was carried out and the Challan qua the petitioner was

presented on 20.09.2021. Total 48 prosecution witnesses have been cited

out of which 20 witnesses have been examined and 06 witnesses have been

given up till date. It is not in dispute that co-accused, namely, Balwinder

Singh, Kuldeep Singh @ Babbu and Gagandeep Singh @ Jarmanjit Singh

@ Bhola have already been granted regular bail by a Co-ordinate Bench of

this Court. The rival contentions raised at Bar give rise to debatable issues

shall be ratiocinated upon during the course of trial. This Court does not

deem it appropriate to delve deep into these rival contentions, at this stage,

lest it may prejudice the trial. Nothing tangible has been brought forward to

indicate the likelihood of the petitioner absconding from the process of

justice or interfering with the prosecution evidence.

6.1. As per custody certificate dated 07.04.2026 filed by the

learned State counsel, the petitioner has already suffered incarceration for a

period of 04 years, 11 months and 30 days. Further, as per the said custody

certificate the petitioner is stated to be involved in other cases/FIRs.

However, this factum cannot be a ground sufficient by itself, to decline the

concession of regular bail to the petitioner in the FIR in question when a

case is made out for grant of regular bail qua the FIR in question by

ratiocinating upon the facts/circumstances of the said FIR. Reliance in this

regard can be placed upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in

Maulana Mohd. Amir Rashadi v. State of U.P. and another, 2012 (1)

RCR (Criminal) 586; a Division Bench judgment of the Hon'ble Calcutta

High Court in case of Sridhar Das v. State, 1998 (2) RCR (Criminal) 477

& judgments of this Court in CRM-M No.38822-2022 titled as Akhilesh

Singh v. State of Haryana, decided on 29.11.2021, and Balraj v. State of

Haryana, 1998 (3) RCR (Criminal) 191.

6.2. This Court in a judgment titled as Kulwinder Versus State of

Punjab passed in CRM-M-64074-2024 (2025:PHHC:002695); after

relying upon the ratio decidendi of the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme

Court in Hussainara Khatoon vs. Home Secy., State of Bihar (1980) 1 SCC

81; Abdul Rehman Antulay vs R.S. Nayak (1992) 1 SCC 225; Javed

Gulam Nabi Shaikh vs. State of Maharashtra and another, 2024(3) RCR

(Criminal) 494; Mohd Muslim @ Hussain vs. State (NCT of Delhi)

reported as 2023 INSC 311; Criminal Appeal No.245/2020 dated

07.02.2020 titled as "Chitta Biswas Alias Subhas vs. The State of West

Bengal"; "Nitish Adhikary @ Bapan vs. The State of West Bengal",

Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.5530-2022 dated 22.08.2022 titled as

"Mohammad Salman Hanif Shaikh vs. The State of Gujarat"; Criminal

Appeal No.1169 of 2022 dated 05.08.2022 titled as Gopal Krishna Patra @

Gopalrusma vs. Union of India, and Ankur Chaudhary vs. State of Madhya

Pradesh, 2024(4) RCR (Criminal) 172; has held, thus:

"7.8. The right to a speedy and expeditious trial is not only a vital safeguard to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration; to mitigate anxiety and concern accompanying the accusation as well as to curtail any impairment in the ability of an accused to defend himself, but there is an overarching societal interest paving way for a speedy trial. This right has been repeatedly actuated in the recent past and the ratio decidendi of the above- referred to Supreme Court's judgments have laid down a series of decisions opening up new vistas of fundamental rights. The concept of speedy trial is amalgamated into the Article 21 as an essential part of the fundamental right to life and liberty, guaranteed and preserved under our Constitution. The right to speedy trial begins with the actual restraint imposed at the time of the arrest of the accused and consequent incarceration which continues at all stages, namely, the stage of investigation, inquiry, trial, appeal and revision so that any possible prejudice that may result due to impermissible and avoidable delay since

the time of the commission of the offence till the criminal proceedings consummate into a finality, could be averted. The speedy trial, early hearing and quick disposal are sine qua non of criminal jurisprudence. The overcrowded Court-dockets, the heavy volume of work and the resultant pressure on the prosecution and the Police, indubitably keeps the entire criminal jurisprudential mechanism under stress and strain. However, this cannot be an excuse for keeping the sword of Damocles hanging on the accused for an indefinite period of time. It does not serve any credit to the criminal justice system, rather it makes for a sad state of affairs. The guarantee of a speedy trial is intended to avoid oppression and prevent delay by imposing on the Court and the prosecution an obligation to proceed with the trial with a reasonable dispatch. The guarantee serves a threefold purpose. Firstly, it protects the accused against oppressive pre-trial imprisonment; secondly, it relieves the accused of the anxiety and public suspicion due to unresolved criminal charges and lastly, it protects against the risk that evidence will be lost or memories dimmed by the passage of time, thus, impairing the ability of the accused to defend himself. It goes without saying that the consequences of pre-trial detention are grave. Accused, presumed innocent, till proven otherwise, are subjected to psychological and physical deprivations of jail-life, usually under onerous conditions. Equally important, the burden of detention of such an accused frequently falls heavily on the innocent members of his family.

There is yet another aspect of the matter which deserves consideration at this stage. The allegations in the present case relate to accused being involved in an FIR relating to commercial quantity of contraband under the NDPS Act, 1985. While considering a bail petition in a case involving commercial quantity, the Court has to keep in mind the rigours enumerated under Section 37 of NDPS Act, 1985 which mandates that Courts can grant bail to an accused only after hearing the public prosecutor and after having satisfied itself of twin conditions which are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence charged/alleged and that, he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. The stringent rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985 must be meticulously scrutinized against the backdrop of accused's fundamental right to a speedy trial. The right to life and personal liberty cannot be rendered nugatory by unwarranted delays in the judicial process, particularly where such delay(s) is neither attributable to the accused nor justified at the end of the prosecution by cogent reasons. An individual cannot be kept behind bars for an inordinate period of time by taking refuge in rigours laid down in Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985. The legislature in its wisdom, in order to ensure speedy and timely disposal of the cases under the Act, has provided for the constitution of special Courts under Section 36-A of the Act. However, this Court cannot turn Nelson's eye to the protracted delays and systematic inefficiency that frustrate this legislative purpose. A Court of law is duty- bound to ensure that it does not become complicit in violation of an individual's fundamental rights, notwithstanding anything contained in a statute. While dealing with bail petition in a case

governed by the rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985, the Court must strike a judicious balance between the legislative intent to curb the menace of drugs and the sacrosanct right of the accused to a fair and expeditious trial. Prolonged incarceration, without justifiable cause, risks transforming pre-trial detention into punitive imprisonment, an outcome antithetical to the principle of justice and equity.

Ergo, the unequivocal inference is that where the trial has failed to conclude within a reasonable time, resulting in prolonged incarceration, it militates against the precious fundamental rights of life and liberty granted under the law and, as such, conditional liberty overriding the statutory embargo created under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985 ought to be considered as per facts of a given case. In other words, grant of bail in a case pertaining to commercial quantity, on the ground of undue delay in trial, cannot be said to be fettered by Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985."

Suffice to say, further detention of the petitioner as an

undertrial is not warranted in the facts and circumstances of the case.

7. In view of above, the present petition is allowed. Petitioner is

ordered to be released on regular bail on his furnishing bail/surety bonds to

the satisfaction of the Ld. concerned trial Court/Duty Magistrate. However,

in addition to conditions that may be imposed by the concerned trial

Court/Duty Magistrate, the petitioner shall remain bound by the following

conditions:

(i) The petitioner shall not mis-use the liberty granted.

(ii) The petitioner shall not tamper with any evidence, oral or documentary, during the trial.

(iii) The petitioner shall not absent himself on any date before the trial.

(iv) The petitioner shall not commit any offence while on bail.

(v) The petitioner shall deposit his passport, if any, with the trial Court.

(vi) The petitioner shall give his cellphone number to the Investigating Officer/SHO of concerned Police Station and shall not change his cell-phone number without prior permission of the trial Court/Illaqa Magistrate.

(vii) The petitioner shall not in any manner try to delay the trial.

(viii) The petitioner shall submit, on the first working day of every

month, an affidavit, before the concerned trial Court, to the effect that he has not been involved in commission of any offence after being released on bail. In case the petitioner is found to be involved in any offence after his being enlarged on bail in the present FIR, on the basis of his affidavit or otherwise, the State is mandated to move, forthwith, for cancellation of his bail which plea, but of course, shall be ratiocinated upon merits thereof.

8. In case of breach of any of the aforesaid conditions and those

which may be imposed by concerned trial Court/Duty Magistrate as

directed hereinabove or upon showing any other sufficient cause, the

State/complainant shall be at liberty to move cancellation of bail of the

petitioner.

9. Ordered accordingly.

10. Nothing said hereinabove shall be construed as an expression

of opinion on the merits of the case.

                                                                             (SUMEET GOEL)
                 April 08, 2026                                                 JUDGE
                 Yag Dutt
                                      Whether speaking/reasoned:      Yes/No
                                      Whether Reportable:             Yes/No