In  CRM-M-11528-2023-PUNJ HC- P&H HC refuses to grant bail to man allegedly indulged in trading drugs of commercial quantity as he didn't state anything to discharge burden put by sec.37 of NDPS Act
Justice Anoop Chitkara [15-05-2023]

Read Order:Rahul Vs. State Of Haryana 

Tulip Kanth

Chandigarh, May 16, 2023: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to grant bail to the petitioner-accused apprehending arrest for violating the provisions of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985  on the allegations of indulging in drug trade and selling 900 tablets containing Alprazolam to another man from which the police had seized the same.

“The burden is on the petitioner to satisfy the twin conditions put in place by the Legislature under Section 37 of the NDPS Act”, the Bench said.

In the bail petition, the accused declared that he had no criminal antecedents and the petitioner’s counsel contended that the pre-trial incarceration would cause an irreversible injustice to the petitioner and family.

The Bench noted that the quantity allegedly involved in this case was commercial and the rigours of S. 37 of the NDPS Act would apply in the case. 

The Bench took note of the fact that the police had collected sufficient evidence connecting the petitioner with the offence. The court was not dealing with a regular bail but an anticipatory bail involving a commercial quantity of intoxicants.

As per the Bench, the  grounds taken in the bail petition did not shift the burden placed by the legislature on the accused under S. 37 of the NDPS Act. The petitioner had not stated anything to discharge the burden put by the stringent conditions placed in the statute by the legislature under section 37. 

The High Court also referred to the judgment of the Top Court in Jai Prakash Singh v. State of Bihar and another.

Thus, the Bench concluded that the petitioner had failed to make a case for bail at this stage and dismissed the petition.