CRJA/158/2023
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Uttarakhand High Court

CRJA/158/2023 on 4 September, 2025

Author: Pankaj Purohit

Bench: Pankaj Purohit

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                                  CRJA No.158 of 2023
                                  Hon'ble Pankaj Purohit, J.

Ms. Unnati Pant, Advocate for the appellant.

2. Ms. Pushpa Bhatt, D.A.G. for the State.

3. This is a criminal jail appeal filed by the appellant, from jail through Senior Superintendent of District Jail, Almora, against the judgment and order dated 19.10.2023, passed by learned Special Sessions Judge, Bageshwar, in S.S.T. No.33 of 2022, State Vs. Bhagat Singh Danu @ Bharat, whereby the appellant was convicted for the offence punishable under Section 8 r/w 20(b)(ii)(c) of N.D.P.S. Act, 1985 and sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of ₹1,00,000/- with default stipulation of six months additional simple imprisonment. Bail Application (IA No.1 of 2024)

4. Today the matter is listed on bail application filed by the counsel for the appellant/applicant.

5. It is mainly contended by learned counsel for the appellant/applicant that the appellant/applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case; he has been in incarceration for approximately three years.

6. She further submits that the appellant/applicant was 19 years of age at the time of the incident and is presently running 22 year. On the merits of the case, it is submitted by learned counsel that although the recovery of charas was allegedly photographed by the prosecution, the photographs annexed with the Trial Court Record at page numbers 17 and 18 do not clearly show from whose possession the charas was recovered. Appellant/applicant is not seen in

those photographs.

7. Apart from this, it is also submitted that there are various contradictions in the prosecution's case.

8. Per contra, learned State counsel submits that the appellant/applicant has been convicted on the basis of material evidence collected during trial, and that he was found in possession of 1.056 kg of charas, which exceeds the commercial quantity i.e. 1 kg. Therefore, she opposed the bail application vehemently.

9. Having considered the submissions of learned counsel for the appellant/applicant and the State, this Court is of the view that the appellant/applicant is presently 22 years of age and further he has already undergone three years of imprisonment and recovery is not conclusively proved, on these grounds, he deserves to be enlarged on bail at this stage.

10. Accordingly, the bail application is allowed. Let the appellant/applicant - Bhagat Singh Danu @ Bharat - be released on bail during the pendency of this appeal, upon his executing a personal bond and furnishing two reliable sureties, each in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the Court concerned.

11. List this case in due course.

12. Observations made above are only for consideration of bail application and shall not have any bearing on the final merits of the instant criminal appeal.

(Pankaj Purohit, J.) 04.09.2025 SK