New Delhi, Aug 26 The Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail application of a man, who was apprehended at IGI Airport carrying 2.81 kg of cocaine in four books.
The accused was booked under Sections 21, 23, and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia noted that since the allegedly recovered contraband was nearly 20 times the commercial quantity, the rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act must apply. The court has to be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence alleged against him and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail, said Justice Kathpalia.
In support of his bail application, the accused, Vanlalbiakdika JH, had raised four main arguments: first, alleged delay in trial; second, invalidity of the notice issued under Section 50 of the NDPS Act; third, delay in depositing the recovered contraband in the ‘malkhana’; and fourth, no clarity on whether the contraband was recovered from the accused or another person who was let off.
In its judgment, the Delhi High Court found none of these arguments sufficient to merit bail.
“A single handpicked sentence from the complaint cannot be given so much importance as to discard the remaining contents thereof,” Justice Kathpalia noted, adding that, except for paragraph 2(j), no part of the complaint or evidence suggests a second accused was involved. He took note of the explanation given by the Standing Counsel that the same was only a matter of a typographical error.
The Delhi High Court further held that challenges regarding the validity of the Section 50 notice and the time taken to deposit the contraband are the issues to be examined during trial. “There is no allegation that the parcels of the allegedly recovered contraband, which were sealed, including a paper tape bearing signatures not just panchnama witnesses but even of the accused/applicant, was found tampered with at any stage,” said Justice Kathpalia.
Regarding the alleged delay in the trial, the Delhi High Court observed that no order sheets from the trial court had been placed on record to substantiate this claim. Denying bail, the judgment cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in NCB vs Mohit Aggarwal, which held that the mere duration of undertrial custody is not a valid ground for granting bail in cases under Section 37 of the NDPS Act. “In view of the above discussion, I do not find it a fit case to release the accused/applicant on bail. The bail application is dismissed,” ordered Justice Girish Kathpalia.
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