Full Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHOK MENON TUESDAY, THE 30TH DAY OF MARCH 2021 / 9TH CHAITHRA, 1943 Bail Appl..No.2372 OF 2021 CRIME NO.1526/2020 OF KODAKARA POLICE STATION , THRISSUR PETITIONERS/ACCUSED: 1 DEEPU, AGED 24 YEARS, S/O FRANCIS, MOOJELI HOUSE, MONODY DESOM VELLIKULANGARA VILLAGE, MUKUNDAPURAM THALUK, THRISSUR DISTRICT PIN 680 699 2 ANANDU, AGED 22 YEARS, S/O THILAKAN, SOONIPARAMBIL HOUSE, KATTIPOKKAN DESOM VELLIKULANGARA VILLAGE, MUKUNDAPURAM THALUK, THRISSUR DISTRICT PIN : 680 699 BY ADVS. SHRI.PRABHU K.N. SHRI.MANUMON A. SRI.JAYAN KUTTICHAKKU RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT: STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM PIN-682031 OTHER PRESENT: SMT.V.SREEJA-PP THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 30.03.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
Dat ed t hist he30t h dayofM arch,2021 APPLICATION FOR REGULAR BAIL The appl sar eaccused i n Cr imeNo. 1526 of 2020 of Kodakar a Pol ice St ati on, Thr issur ,for havi ng al legedl y commi tted of fences puni shabl e under Sect ions 20( b)( ii) C of t he Nar cot ic Drugs and Psychot ropi c Subst ances Act ,1985 ( for shor tthe “NDPS Act ”).The pr ioncase,i nbr ief ,ist his:
2. On 24. 11. 2020,atabout10. 45 AM,on get ting
di scr eeti nformat ion r egar ding t tat ion ofhuge quant iti esofganj a,t he Sub I nspect orofPol ice,Kodakar a and hi s par ty wer e i nspect ing vehi cles at Kodakar a J unct ion and a vehi cle bear ing Reg. No. KL- 64A- 1814, dr i he 1st accused wi ven by t t he 2nd accused as a h t passenger was al so i nter cept ed. Thei r body sear ch was conduct ed i nthe pr esence of t he Tahsi ldar ,a gazet ted of ficer ,who was cal led f or t he sear ch,butnot hing was r ecover ed f hei rper son. A subsequentsear ch oft he cler eveal ed 54. 200 Kgs of ganj a kept i nsi de t he cle and t raband wassei zed,t he accused wer e arr est edandr emandedt ojudi cialcust ody .Theappl ion fil ed by t sbef oret he j uri sdi cti onalcour twas di smi ssed.And,t her efor e,t shaveappr oached t hisCour tfori ndul gence.
3. Thel
earnedcounselappear ingf ort s submi tst hemandat orypr ovi sionsunderSect ion50of t he NDPS Act have not been compl ied wi th. I tis al so st atedt her eisnoevi dencet clebel ongst o t sandt hel earnedcounselhasal sopoi ntedout cer tai n di scr epanci es overt ime atwhi he al leged sei zur e was made whi ch woul d r ender t he ent ire pr ioncaseunbel ievabl e.
4. The l
earned Publ ic Pr or, on t he ot her hand,submi tst her ear esuf fici entmat eri alst oindi cat e t her eiscompl ianceofSect ion50aswel lasSect ion42 andt hesear chwasconduct edi napr opermannerandt he sei zur e was ef fect ed. I tis al so poi nted by t he l earned Publ ort clewast akenonr entbyt he sfr om t heCW8,whohasgi venast atementt othe ef fectheused t oof ten r entvehi clest otheappl s,and on 18.
11. 2020,t s had appr oached hi m f ora
clef or t he pur pose ofgoi ng t oIdukkii n connect ion wi th ber eavement , and accor dingl y, t he vehi cle was handed overf orabout5 days. Subsequent ly,he came t o know t clewasappr ehended byt hePol icenear t heKodakar abr idge.Thel earnedPubl orst ates t hest atementoft hiswi tnesswoul d cl inch t hecaseof t sand t hear gumentt heyar etheowner s oft cle,i sofnoavai l.
5. Even i
fthe mat ter ssuggest ed byt s ar eto be consi der ed,i tisf ort rialcour tto consi der . Ther e suf fici ent mat eri als t o i ndi cat e t he s have been t ting cont raband ar ticl es i n t he carbel ongi ng t o CW8,whi hey had t aken on r ent . Eveni fther eisavi olat ionofSect ion50oft heNDPSAct ,it i ssomet hing t o be consi der ed dur rialand t her e i nnumer abl e deci sions t othe ef fect t hat compl iance of Sect s not r equi red when t he sei zur eisnotaf fect edf hebodyoft heaccused.I nthe i nst antcase,t raband was sei zed f he car i n whi hey wer etr avel li ng and hence,t he compl iance of Sect s not mandat oryi n such ci rcumst ances.
6. Iwoul
drel yupon t he cat ena ofdeci sionsoft he Honour abl e Supr eme Cour trepor ted i n Raj endra And Anot herv.St ate ofM P 2004 KHC 375,St ate of HP v. Pawan Kumar 2005 KHC 860,St ate ofRaj ast han v. Daul atRam 2005 KHC 1356,J arnai lSi ngh v.St ateof Punj ab 2011 KHC 4166,Ram Swaroop v.St ate( Govt . NCT)ofDel hi2013 KHC 4428 and Kul winder Si ngh And Anot herv.St ateofPunj ab 2015 KHC 3116.I nal l t hese deci sions, t he Apex Cour t has hel d t he pr ovi sionsunderSect ion50oft heNDPSActwi llcomei nto pl ace onl yi sonalsear n case ofper ch oft he accused,and notf rom pi eces ofbaggage orvehi cles. These deci sions havebeenr ecent lyf oll owedbyt hisHi ghCour tin Chal am Shei kh v. St ate of Keral a 2020 ( 4) KHC 378. The consi der ati on of Sect s not somet hing t hati srequi red att ime ofconsi der he ion f orbai l,i tisf ort rialcour tto consi deral l t hose mat ter sdur rial . The l ightofSect ion 37 of t he NDPS Act ,no accused can be r eleased on bai l,when t sopposedbyt hel earnedPubl or unl ess t he cour tis sat isfied,t her ereasonabl e gr oundsf orbel ievi ngt hathei snotgui ltyofsuch of fences andt hathei snotl ikel ytocommi tanof fencewhi leonbai l. I nthe i nst antcase,t s wer e caught r ed- handed wi th t raband whi le t hey wer e t ting. And, t her efor e, t her e no r easonabl e gr oundst obel ievet sar enotgui lty . And, hence,t sdi smi ssed. Thebai lappl sdi smi ssed. Sd/ - ASHOK M ENON JUDGE NR/ 30/ 03/