SATPAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The appellant - Satpal Singh (in Crl. Appeal. No. 462 of 2018) is before this Court, challenging the order dated 04.10.2017 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in CRM-M-37140 of 2017 rejecting his application for anticipatory bail. The High Court took note of the fact that the appellant was an accused in FIR No. 0053, dated 11.06.2017 under Sections 22 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short, "the NDPS Act"), registered at Police Station Bhadson, District Patiala. Though it was argued that a coordinate Bench of the High Court had granted anticipatory bail to the co-accused, namely, Beant Singh and Gurwinder Singh, who are brothers of the appellant, as per order dated 21.09.2017, the learned Judge was not inclined to accept the contention since there was no question of parity as far as the bail is concerned and in view of the fact that the Coordinate Bench had not taken note of the limitations under Section 37 of the NDPS Act. In our view, the learned Judge is perfectly right in his approach and in declining the protection under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short "Cr.P.C.") 3. Section 37 of the NDPS Act reads as follows:-