JAGSIR SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner herein seeks the grant of regular bail in FIR No. 46 dated 19.04.2019 under Section 22 of the NDPS Act 1985 registered at Police Station Longowal, District Sangrur.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner herein would contend that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the said FIR. As per the FIR, SI Harinder Singh posted as CIA staff received a secret information on 19.4.2019 that the petitioner is in the habit of selling tablets in village Longowal. On receipt of such information, a ruqa was sent and an IO was sent from CIA Bahadur Singh Wala. Thereafter, a picket was set up and the petitioner was apprehended. It is argued that as per the prosecution version, the petitioner, on seeing a police party, threw away a plastic bag containing contraband of 1000 intoxicant tablets labelled as Clovidol, i.e 100 strips having 10 tablets each bearing Batch No. TVD 18099, MFG January 2019, expiring on December 2021. The FSL report confirmed the weight of the tablets and found the tablets to be containing Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Tramadol Hydrochloride. The petitioner was apprehended on the spot and thereafter the bail application filed by him was dismissed by the Special Court, Sangrur.

(3.) Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner would contend that he has been in custody for more than one year and 6 months and the trial is not progressing as no witnesses have been examined as on date. It is also submitted that the entire investigation is complete and challan has been presented and therefore his custody would no longer be required. It is also argued the question of conscious possession would be a matter of trial as admittedly the recovery of the alleged contraband was not from his possession. Learned counsel relies upon the judgement rendered in Ravi Kumar Versus State of Punjab,2019 4 RCR(Cri) 714 where regular bail has been allowed in similar circumstances, on the ground that the question of conscious possession would be a matter of trial.