IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 26TH DAY OF APRIL, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION NO.2606/2019 BETWEEN:
Irfan Pasha S/o Sardar Pasha, Aged about 28 years, Presently residing at No.2696, Mandi Mohalla, 5th Cross, K.T.Street Road, Mysuru-570 001. ...Petitioner (By Sri. R.K. Mahadeva, Advocate) AND:
The State of Karnataka Rep. by the Station House Officer, E &N Crime Police Station, Mysuru CCB, Mysuru City.
Rep.by its State Public Prosecutor, High Court Building, Bengaluru-560001. ... Respondent (By Sri. M. Divakar Maddur, HCGP) This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 438 of Criminal Procedure Code praying to enlarge the petitioners on bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No.1/2019 of E and N Crime Police Station, Mysore City for the offence punishable under Sections 20(c) and 20(b)(i) of N.D.P.S. Act.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders, this day, the Court made the following:
O R D E R The present petition has been filed by the petitioners/accused No.2 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. praying this Court to release him on anticipatory bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No.1/2019 of E and N Crime Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 20(c) and 20(b)(i) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred as ‘NDPS Act’ for short).
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent-State.
3. Gist of the complaint is that on 05.01.2019 at about 3:30 p.m., the complainant received credible information that in the house of the petitioner there is storage of ganja. Immediately, along with his staff, woman PSI, gazetted officers and panchas, went and searched the said house. As per the search warrant, they found totally 3 kg 637 grams of ganja in different packets. On the basis of the complaint, the case has been registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for petitioner that the petitioner-accused No.2 was not present at the place of alleged incident, only on the basis of voluntary statement said to have been given by accused No.1, he has been arraigned as accused. He further submitted that the recovery has been done at the instance of the accused No.1 but the said vehicle does not belongs to the petitioner/accused No.2. It is further submitted that the ganja which has been seized includes the leaves and other aspects. The said leaves are not separated and the weight of seized ganja is less than the commercial quantity and as such, the provision of Section 37 of the NDPS Act does not applicable. It is further submitted that already Accused No.1 has been released on bail by this Court in Criminal Petition No.588/2019. On the ground of parity, the present petitioner is also entitled to be released on bail. The petitioner/accused No.2 is ready to abide by any conditions that may be imposed on him by this Court and ready to offer sureties. On these grounds, he prayed to allow the petition and to release the petitioner/accused No.2 on bail.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader vehemently argued and submitted that the petitioner/accused No.2 along with accused No.1 was dealing with ganja and he is a habitual offender. It is further submitted that the said ganja has been seized from the house of accused No.1. It is stated in the voluntary statement of accused No.1 that the petitioner/accused No.2 has supplied the said ganja to her for the purpose of selling. There is ample material to show the involvement of the petitioner/accused No.2 in a serious offence which is grave and anti-social. It is further submitted that if the petitioner/accused No.2 is released on bail, he may abscond and he may again indulge in similar type of criminal activity. On these grounds he prays to dismiss the petition.
6. I have carefully and cautiously gone through the submissions made by the learned counsel appearing for both the parties and perused the records.
7. On close reading of the records, it discloses the fact that the petitioner/accused No.2 was not present at the place of the alleged incident and only on the basis of the voluntary statement said to have been given by accused No.1, he has been arraigned as accused. Be that as it may. Accused No.1 has already been released on bail by this court vide order dated 12.02.2019 in Criminal Petition No.588/2019. The ganja which is said to have been seized is 3 kg 637 grams. The seized ganja is less than the commercial quantity. As such, the provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act are not attracted. Though the alleged offences are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. Under the said facts and circumstance, I feel that by imposing some stringent conditions, if the petitioner/accused No.2 is released on bail, it is going to meet the ends of justice.
8. In the light of discussions held by me above, petition is allowed and the petitioner/accused No.2 is ordered to be released on anticipatory bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No.1/2019 of E and N Crime Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 20(c) and 20(b)(i) of NDPS Act, subject to the following conditions:
1. Petitioner/accused No.2 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.2,00,000/-
(Rupees Two Lakhs Only) with two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer.
2. He shall surrender before the Investigating Officer within 15 days from today.
3. He shall co-operate with the Investigating Officer for the purpose of investigation.
4. He shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence either directly or indirectly.
5. He shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Court without prior permission 6. He shall mark his attendance once in a month, i.e., 1st of every month between 10.00 a.m., and 5.00 p.m., before the jurisdictional police station, till the charge sheet is filed.
KTY Sd/- JUDGE