AMARDEEP SINGH Vs. DIRECTORATE OF REVENUE INTELLIGENCE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, 'the Code of Criminal Procedure') for grant of bail to the Petitioner in complaint case No. SC-304 dated 5.9.2008 under Sections 2, 9A, 25A, 27A, 28, 29 & 60 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985) (for short, 'the Act').

(2.) The Petitioner was arrested on 10.3.2008 in the aforementioned case by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Ludhiana (for brevity, 'the DRI') and the trial is pending in the Court of Judge, Special Court, Ludhiana. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on an intelligence report having been received by the officials of the DRI on 8.3.2008, a truck bearing No. PB11-W-5237 was intercepted near the Traffic Lights of Sahnewal on Khanna-Ludhiana Road which was coming towards Ludhiana from Patiala. After interception, the said truck was brought to Transport Nagar, Ludhiana. There, its driver, namely, Jaspal Singh was supposed to meet the owner of the goods loaded in the truck for further directions. In the meantime, two persons came at the spot in a vehicle bearing registration No. CH-23(T)-4959 and approached towards the said truck. When the officials of the DRI made an attempt to apprehend them, one person, managed to escape, whereas the Petitioner -Amardeep Singh was the other person, who was apprehended at the spot. He disclosed the name of the person, who escaped, as Ranjit Singh Sangha alias Bittoo son of Gurmeet Singh, resident of Canada, with local address as V. & P.O. Langri, District Hoshiarpur. On search of the truck, 232 kgs. and 237 grams of Ephedrine packed in ten gunny bags which were marked to contain 'citric acid' was recovered. These bags were kept along with the bags of grocery items. On the basis of the information supposedly given by the Petitioner and driver-Jaspal Singh, the officials of the DRI conducted search and seizure operation in Hotel Grand Park, Patiala and found that one Harjinder Singh (co-accused), who has since been released on bail pursuant to the provisions of Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, was staying there in a room from where Rs. 2,91,300/- along with five mobile phones, one sim card and 1837 kgs. of Ephedrine were recovered. The statement of Harjinder Singh was recorded and similarly, the statement of the truck driver was also recorded. It was established that Harjinder Singh had loaded in the truck in question Ephedrine, which a controlled substance, and the grocery items from his rented accommodation, i.e., House No. 652, Adarsh Colony, Patiala on 8.3.2008 and had made payment to the driver for its transportation. Harjinder Singh had further stated that he had loaded 110 gunny bags of grocery items and 10 packets (gunny bags) weighing 23 kg. totaling 120 packets by hiring the truck on payment of Rs. 5000/- and at that time, he had given out his name as Sunny. It was, thus, established that said Harjinder Singh had dispatched the consignment which was to be received by the Petitioner and another person, who had escaped and that all these persons were involved in illegal trafficking and transportation of Ephedrine which was a precursor chemical used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and ecstasy tablets and was a controlled substance as per notification no. SO No. 1296(E) dated 28.12.1999.

(3.) The contention of the learned Counsel is that the Petitioner is in custody for a considerable long time and that he was not found in conscious possession of the contraband. He further contended that the Ephedrine which was found in the possession of the Petitioner is not covered under the Act. It was, thus, submitted that due to this and for the reason that co-accused of the Petitioner have already been released on bail and also for the reason that no case under the Act has been made out, he deserves the concession of bail.