AJAY KOCHHAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed under Sec. 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking issuance of appropriate directions to the respondent authorities to provide at least one week's advance notice to the petitioner in terms of Sec. 179 of the BNSS, in the event the petitioner is required to attend the police station.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner, along with his father, holds a valid license as a pharmaceutical distributor and has been running a pharmaceutical distribution business under the name and style of "Pardeep International" at Jalandhar for the past 23-24 years. It is further submitted that the petitioner, being engaged in the business of distribution of manufactured pharmaceutical drugs, has been falsely implicated in cases under the NDPS Act since the year 2024, and at present he is facing trial in three such cases. Learned counsel submits that all the cases registered against the petitioner are false and fabricated, and that the petitioner has been implicated solely on the basis of confessional/disclosure statements of certain individuals who allegedly claimed to have purchased scheduled drugs from the petitioner, merely because he holds a valid license for pharmaceutical distribution. It is further submitted that the petitioner apprehends that immediately upon his release on bail in the third case, he may again be falsely implicated by the Jalandhar Police or Kapurthala Police. The petitioner fears that such actions would result in an unwarranted curtailment of his right to life and personal liberty. Learned counsel for the petitioner thus prays that directions be issued to the respondents to give at least one week's prior notice to the petitioner in the event he is required to appear at any police station, so that he may avail appropriate legal remedies in accordance with law.

(3.) Notice of motion.