VISHWANATHAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who was arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 23/10/2024 in C.C.No.643 of 2025 on the file of the II Additional Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases under NDPS Act at Chennai, for the offences under Ss. 8(c), 22(b) and 29(1) of NDPS Act @ Ss. 8(c) r/w 22(b), 29(1), 20(b)(ii)(A) of NDPS Act @ Ss. 8(c) r/w. 22(c), 29(1), 25 and 20(b)(ii)(A) of NDPS Act, seeks bail. This is the third bail application of the petitioner and the earlier bail applications in Crl.O.P.No.3542 of 2025 was dismissed by this Court, vide order dtd. 21/3/2025 and Crl.O.P.No.16446 of 2025 was dismissed as withdrawn, vide order dtd. 5/11/2025.

(2.) The case of the prosecution is that on 20/10/2024 based on a specific information, the respondent team went near Arumbakkam Naduvankarai Bridge and intercepted one Arunkumar, who is the first accused; that after complying all the mandatory provisions under the NDPS Act, search and seizure was effected and he was found in possession of 11.59 grams of Methamphethamine; that thereafter his statement under Sec. 67 of the NDPS Act was recorded, which revealed that he purchased the contraband from Anthony Ruban (A4) and would sell it to Deepakraj (A3), Siddharth (A2) and Jagadeesh @ Jaga (A9); that after the arrest of the first accused, on his confession a further quantity of 14.33 kilograms of Methamphetamine was seized from his house; that thereafter, A5 and A6 were arrested and their confession statement revealed that they purchased Methamphetamine from one Sathish (A7) and the petitioner herein; that further, 1 Kg of Methamphetamine was seized from this petitioner; that during further course of investigation, it is revealed that A15 in this case was the main drug dealer, who had purchased the contraband from Delhi in commercial quantity and supplied to the petitioner herein, A13 and A14. Hence, the case.

(3.) The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that, the petitioner has been falsely implicated in this case based on the confession of the co-accused; that the the petitioner has no connection with other accused involved in this case and there is no legally acceptable evidence to implicate the petitioner in the aforesaid offence; that the petitioner was not provided with grounds for his arrest during the time of arrest, as mandated under Sec. 47 of BNSS, which is also a violation of fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India; that that the investigation of this case was completed and final report also filed in C.C.No.643 of 2025; that the petitioner is in judicial custody since 23/10/2024; that the contraband alleged to have recovered from the petitioner herein was produced before the NDPS Court after a delay of 34 days and further the respondent had sent the seized material to the Forensic Science Laboratory only on 4/12/2025, after an unexplained delay of 42 days, which is a clear violation of mandatory procedure prescribed under the Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985-Sec. Act; that the co-accused/ A4, A5, A7, A10, A11, A12, A13, A14, A15, A18 , A19 and A20 were all already granted bail by this Court; and that the petitioner is ready to abide by any condition that may be imposed by this Court and sought for bail to the petitioner. He also relied on the judgment of the Apex Court in Mihir Rajesh Shah vs. State of Maharashtra [2025 LiveLaw (SC) 1066] in support of his contention.