SURENDRA PATRA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner approached this Court under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking pre-trial bail in connection with Badbazar P.S. Case No. 34/2000 correspondng to G.R. Case No. 16/2000 now sub-judice before the learned Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, Berhampur, his prayer for bail having been refused by the aforesaid Court.

(2.) Accusation against the petitioner is that he was having a licensed Bhang shop at Aska Road, in which he had kept contraband articles such as Ganja and Opium illegaly for which S.I. of Badbazar, P.S. while performing patrol duty on 3-4-2000 at about 2.30 p.m. received credible information regarding such possession and rushed to the spot along with his staff and searched the shop of the petitioner in his absence and seized 4 Kgs. of ganja and 5.440 Kgs. of opium in presence of witnesses and launched prosecution under Section 18/20(6) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short N.D.P.S. Act) agaisnt the petitioner.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner has raised principally the following contentions :- i) The mandatory provisions of Sections 42 and 50 have not been complied with by the prosecuting agency, and ii) The alleged contraband articles have not been seized from the conscious possession of the petitioner. On these two grounds, the learned counsel for the petitioner has persuaded the Court to grant pre-trial bail to the petitioner.