Jagseer Singh vs State Of Punjab

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The petitioner was arrested on 20.07.2022 pursuant to a chance recovery of 2000 tablets labelled Diazepam and 200 bottles of Codeine Phosphate syrup from his possession, attracting charges under Sections 22(c) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The quantity recovered being commercial in nature, the twin conditions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act were attracted, placing a heavy burden on the petitioner to secure bail. The petitioner moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking regular bail, contending that prolonged pre-trial incarceration would cause irreversible injustice to him and his family.

The Court noted that the petitioner had no criminal antecedents and placed reliance on a series of Supreme Court precedents wherein bail was granted on account of prolonged incarceration in cases involving similar contraband, namely codeine phosphate-based cough syrups seized in commercial quantities, where trials had made little or no progress. The Court observed that the principle of bail on account of delayed trial has been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court even in cases attracting the rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act.

Having regard to the prolonged incarceration of the petitioner, the slow progress of trial, the absence of criminal antecedents, and the ratio of the Supreme Court decisions cited, the Court held that the petitioner was entitled to bail and allowed the petition subject to stringent conditions to be imposed by the Trial Court, including regular attendance and cooperation in expeditious disposal of the trial.

Catchwords: bail NDPS Act commercial quantity Diazepam Codeine Phosphate Section 37 twin conditions prolonged incarceration pre-trial detention no criminal antecedents slow trial progress regular bail Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita