LAKHBIR SINGH Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present is a third petition filed under Sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for grant of regular bail to the petitioner in case bearing FIR No.102 dtd. 21/7/2020, under Ss. 22-C, 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985, registered at Police Station Jakhal, District Fatehabad.

(2.) It has been submitted by learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is in custody for 3 years, 1 month and 18 days as of today and allegedly there was a recovery of 1000 tablets of TRAMADOL which falls in the category of commercial quantity under the NDPS Act. He further submitted that as per the allegations, the petitioner was driving motorcycle on which his wife was a pillion rider from whom there was an alleged recovery of the aforesaid contraband and it was not from the petitioner. He also submitted that the wife of the petitioner, namely, Rani has already been granted the benefit of regular bail by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide Annexure P-4. He also submitted that the petitioner is having clean antecedents and is not involved in any other case and earlier he was involved in one case under the NDPS Act in which he has already been acquitted and the present case was planted upon the petitioner. He submitted that be that as it may, now the custody of the petitioner is 3 years, 1 month and 18 days and only six witnesses have been examined till date. He further submitted that earlier when the petitioner had filed a petition for grant of regular bail before this Court vide Annexure P-7, this Court had rather directed the trial Court to expedite the conclusion of the trial and in the meantime to examine the Investigating Officer within a period of two months while leaving it open to the petitioner to file a fresh petition for bail, after the examination of the Investigating Officer, if the circumstances of the case so warrant. The aforesaid order was passed by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court on 24/8/2022 and more than one year has elapsed that the Investigating Officer has already been examined but the trial is not going at fast space despite the fact that the direction was issued to the trial Court to expedite the trial by way of the aforesaid order vide Annexure P-7. He submitted that considering the antecedents of the petitioner and also considering his long custody, he may be considered for the grant of regular bail.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court passed in Special Leave to Appeal (Criminal ) No.6690 of 2022 titled as 'Dheeraj Kumar Shukla Vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh' and Special Leave to Appeal (Criminal) No.4169 of 2023 titled as 'Rabi Prakash Vs. The State of Odisha' and contended that the bar contained under Sec. 37 of the NDPS Act will be applicable to the present petitioner in the light of the aforesaid two judgments passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and also in view of the fact that the alleged recovery was not from the petitioner.