VARUN BHARDWAJ Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this petition filed under Sec. 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioner has prayed for grant of bail in FIR No. 06 of 2020, dtd. 6/2/2020, registered under Ss. 18 and 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 at Police Station State CID, Crime Bharari, District Shimla, H.P.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that though the allegations of the prosecution are that 384 grams of opium and 1.446 kg of charas was recovered from the possession of the petitioner, but fact of the matter remains that the petitioner continues to be in custody since the date of his arrest i.e. 6/2/2020 and as the trial is not proceeding at desired speed, the petitioner is being made to suffer denying to him right to fair and speedy trial, which is his fundamental right. He further submitted that otherwise also, the petitioner is innocent and not guilty of the offences alleged to have been committed by him, which is evident from the statements of the prosecution witnesses recorded till date. Accordingly, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and the petitioner be ordered to be released on bail on such terms and conditions as the Court deems fit.

(3.) Learned Deputy Advocate General has opposed the petition inter alia on the ground that the quantity of recovered contraband is commercial quantity and if released on bail, there is each and every possibility that the petitioner may try to win over the remaining witnesses, which may adversely affect the trial. He also argued that simply because the petitioner is in custody for more than three and half years, this does not confers upon him any right to be released on bail because herein the quantity involved is commercial, therefore, the rigors of Sec. 37 of the NDPS Act come into play and in the absence of the recording of any satisfaction by the Court that the petitioner is not guilty of the offences alleged to have been committed by him, he cannot be released on bail.