Court No. - 62
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 47820
of 2017
Applicant :- Latif Khan
Opposite Party :- Narcotics Control Bureau Lucknow Counsel for Applicant :- Rajesh Kumar Dubey,Mohit Gautam Counsel for Opposite Party :- Sanjay Kumar Singh
Hon'ble Vivek Kumar Singh,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant, and Sri Ashish Pandey, learned counsel on behalf of Narcotics Control Bureau.
This is the second bail application on behalf of applicant. The first bail application on behalf of applicant has been rejected by Hon'ble Mr. Justice Pratyush Kumar, J. vide order dated 06.04.2017 with a direction to the court below to expedite the trial and conclude it expeditiously preferable within a period of six months.
Learned counsel for applicant has submitted that no contraband article has been recovered from the possession of the applicant. It has also been pointed out by the learned counsel for the applicant that till date only one witness has been examined. Applicant is languishing in jail since 11.12.2014. The applicant has no other reported criminal antecedent.
Sri Ashish Pandey, learned counsel on behalf of opposite party opposed the prayer for bail.
Considering the period of detention and the fact that no contraband article has been recovered from the possession of the applicant & the nature of accusation, severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, reasonable apprehension of tempering of the witnesses and prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge and reformative theory of punishment, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail in this case.
Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case let the applicant Latif Khan involved in NCB Case No. 06 of 2014, under Section 8/18/21/27-A/29 of N.D.P.S. Act, Police Station Kobaganj, District Mau be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond with two sureties (Rs. Two Lacs each) (One should be of a family member) each in the like amount to the satisfaction of magistrate/court concerned, with the following conditions:-
i) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.
(ii) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of his absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iii) In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure his presence proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iv) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against him in accordance with law.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to cancel the bail.
The trial court is further directed to expedite the trial of the present case and conclude the same expeditiously preferably within a period of six months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order, if there is no legal impediment.
Order Date :- 21.12.2018 Arti