RAMESH KUMAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Accused Ramesh Kumar has filed this petition under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail, in a case arising out of FIR No.103 dated 22.09.2013, registered at Police Station City-II, Mansa, in respect of an offence punishable under Section 22 of the NDPS Act, 1985.

(2.) The petitioner is stated to be a licensed chemist, as is evident from a perusal of Annexures P-1 to P-3, which are copies of licenses in force from 26.04.2001 to 25.04.2009 and thereafter from 26.04.2009 to 25.04.2014. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that first an FIR was registered against the petitioner on the 4th March, 2010, also for the alleged commission of an offence, punishable under Section 22 of the NDPS Act, at Police Station Joga, District Mansa, in which the petitioner was discharged vide order dated 17.07.2010 (Annexure P-4), passed by the Special Court, Mansa. Thereafter, a second FIR was registered against him at the same Police Station, for the same offence, on the 24th July, 2010. The petitioner is stated to have been bailed out in that case on 08.09.2010.

(3.) Mr. Bedi, learned counsel for the petitioner, submits that in that FIR bearing No.54, the petitioner was shown to have been picked up from the road, though he was picked up from his chemists' shop, as per the footage of the CCTV camera, installed at his business premises, i.e. chemists' shop, which is stated to be run by his brother and him. In view of the fact that he was shown to have been picked up from the road, whereas in the CCTV footage the petitioner was shown to have been picked up from the chemist shop itself, the petitioner filed a criminal complaint against various Police officials, including the IO in the case registered against the petitioner, i.e. one SI Gurdarshan Singh, on 14.09.2011. After almost two years having elapsed, when no summoning order was issued and no effective order was passed in his complaint, the petitioner filed an application for advancing the date of hearing in the criminal complaint, before the learned Sessions Judge, Mansa on 19.06.2013 (Annexure P-5), on which an order was passed by the learned Sessions Judge on the 22nd July, 2013 (Annexure P-6), directing the trial Court to conclude the entire evidence and to positively pass an appropriate order by the 25th October, 2013.