SIRAJUDHEEN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The above captioned application seeking regular bail is filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ('Code' for short) by the 1st accused in Crime No.323 of 2021 of Ernakulam Town North Police Station registered under Sections 22 (b) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

(2.) The gist of the prosecution allegation is that a search was conducted inside a room in hotel Royal Park where the petitioner herein and the 2nd accused were staying on 23.04.2021 at 10.40 p.m. It is alleged that the accused were found having in their possession 4.047 gms of MDMA in clear violation of the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985. The contraband was seized and the accused were arrested.

(3.) The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner has been in custody from 23.4.2021 onwards. According to the learned counsel, the search and seizure were effected in clear violation of the mandatory formalities. The contraband which was allegedly in the possession of the accused falls within the intermediate quantity category and hence the mandate under Section 37 of the Act would not apply. It is further submitted that the 2nd accused has already been enlarged on bail. The learned counsel would urge that the fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of innocence, meaning thereby that a person is believed to be innocent until found guilty. He would vehemently urge that any imprisonment before conviction has a substantial punitive content and which has time and again been disapproved by this Court as well as the Apex Court.