Uttarakhand High Court

BA1/2418/2024 on 2 May, 2025

                                                                  2025:UHC:3393
              Office Notes,
             reports, orders
             or proceedings
SL.
      Date    or directions               COURT'S OR JUDGE'S ORDERS
No.
             and Registrar's
               order with
               Signatures
                               BA1 No.2406 of 2024
                               with
                               BA1 No.2418 of 2024
                               Hon'ble Alok Mahra, J.

Mr. Harsh Vardhan Dhanik and Mr. Lalit Sharma, Advocates for the applicants.

Mr. S.S. Chauhan, Deputy Advocate General and Mr. Vikas Uniyal, Brief Holder for the State of Uttarakhand.

2. These first bail applications have been moved by the applicants seeking regular bail in Case Crime/F.I.R. No.161 of 2024, under Section 8, 20 & 60 of N.D.P.S. Act, registered at Police Station Pantnagar, District Udham Singh Nagar, on 23.10.2024.

3. It is contended by learned counsels for the applicants that applicants have falsely implicated in the instant crime and are languishing in jail since 23.10.2024. Learned counsels for the applicants submit that there is no independent witness of the alleged recovery. They submit that the inventory was prepared before lodging of the F.I.R. They submit that the samples of contraband were not collected in accordance with the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances (Seizure, Storage, Sampling And Disposal) Rules, 2022. They submit that sample from each rod was not taken and it was a random sampling. Learned counsels for the applicants placed reliance on the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Gaunter 2025:UHC:3393

Edwin Kircher Vs. State of Goa, Secretariat Panaji, Goa, reported in (1993) 3SCC 145. Relevant extract of the aforesaid judgment is reproduced below:

"Before examining the scope of this provision, we shall first consider whether the prosecution has established beyond all reasonable doubt that the accused had in his possession two pieces of Charas weighing 7 gms and 5 gms respectively. As already mentioned only one piece was sent for chemical analysis and PW 1, the Junior Scientific Officer who examined the same found it to contain Charas but it was less than 5 gms. From this report alone it cannot be presumed or inferred that the substance in the other piece weighing 7 gms also contained Charas. It has to be borne in mind that the Act applies to certain narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and not to all other kinds of intoxicating substances. In any event in the absence of positive proof that both the pieces recovered from the accused contained Charas only, it is not safe to hold that 12 gms of Charas were recovered from the accused. In view of the evidence of PW 1 it must be held that the prosecution has proved positively that Charas weighing about 4.570 gms was recovered from the accused."

4. Learned State Counsel vehemently opposed the bail application.

5. Considering the submission of learned counsel for the parties and without expressing any opinion as to the final merits of the case, this Court is of the view that applicants deserve bail at this stage.

6. The bail applications are allowed.

7. Let the applicants, namely, Chandra Shekhar Bhatt and Dinesh Belwal alias Deepak Belwal be released on bail, on executing personal bond by each one of them and furnishing two reliable sureties by each one of them, each of like amount, to the satisfaction of Court concerned.

(Alok Mahra, J.) 02.05.2025 Arpan

ARPAN

DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH

2.5.4.20=eabb68a3895e41937c266c23964c0485365445e3a2 0dddb7393398f9fe45ba3e, postalCode=263001,

JAISWAL st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=060FC17022BEAE3DE215D68D9D454C5109C B987446351E4DF04AADAA2C2CEA66, cn=ARPAN JAISWAL Date: 2025.05.02 17:00:58 +05'30'