(1.) The petitioner has sought for anticipatory bail under section 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in Crime No.96/2019-20/10IE/100204 of Excise Police Sub-Division Vijayapur, registered for the offences punishable under sections 20 , 25 , 8(c) , 8b of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act , 1985 (hereinafter for brevity referred to as ' NDPS Act ').
(2.) The case of the prosecution is that on 03.12.2019 at about 10.30 a.m. the complainant, who is the Excise Inspector, Vijayapur, received a credible information that in the land at Sy.No.54/6 of Abbihal village, Nidagundi taluk, unathorizedly ganja plants (cannabis) being grown. The said Inspector, after passing on the said information to the Tahsildar of Nidagundi taluk and requesting him to lead the raiding team, proceeded to the spot along with the Tahsildar, panchas and other raiding team members. In the spot, he noticed that a person, after seeing these people, attempted to run away, but he was caught and when enquired, he revealed his name as Padadayya S/o Shivamurttayya. In the said land, these people noticed that eleven ganja plants (cannabis) were grown amidst onion crop. The person who was caught in the spot also revealed that he was cultivating the land which actually belonging to the present petitioner Shivamurttayya. The said cultivator Padadayya also said to have stated that he was growing ganja plants without anybody's knowledge, to sell it and make money, for which he had no license or permit.
(3.) In the presence of panchas, all the eleven plants were removed and weighed. They were in total weighing 6.5 kilograms, from which a sample was taken for its chemical examination. A panchanama was drawn and along with the goods the complainant returned and filed a complaint which was registered in respondent station Crime No.96/2019-20/10IE/ 100204 for the offences punishable under sections 20 , 25 , 8(c) , 8b of NDPS Act.