Sanjeev Kumar vs State Of Haryana

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The petitioner was arrested in connection with FIR No. 579 dated 01.11.2023 registered at Police Station Sadar Fatehabad under Sections 22-C and 27-A of the NDPS Act, 1985, alleging that he supplied 65 vials of cough syrup containing Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine Hydrochloride to co-accused Jaswinder Kaur, and that a further 60 vials along with drug money were recovered pursuant to his disclosure statement. The quantity involved was of a commercial nature, thereby attracting the rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act, requiring satisfaction of twin conditions before bail could be granted.

The petitioner sought regular bail under Section 439 CrPC on the ground that prolonged pre-trial incarceration would cause irreversible injustice to him and his family. The High Court, relying on a catena of Supreme Court precedents granting bail in cases of prolonged custody in NDPS matters involving cough syrup containing codeine, held that the period of incarceration already undergone by the petitioner constituted sufficient ground to grant bail notwithstanding the commercial quantity and the statutory embargo under Section 37 of the NDPS Act.

The Court granted regular bail to the petitioner subject to stringent conditions, reaffirming the principle that even where commercial quantity of narcotic substance is involved, prolonged pre-trial detention without conclusion of trial can justify the grant of bail, particularly where the accused has no criminal antecedents and the Supreme Court has consistently intervened in analogous fact situations.

Catchwords: NDPS Act bail commercial quantity codeine phosphate cough syrup Section 37 NDPS Act twin conditions prolonged custody Section 439 CrPC disclosure statement no criminal antecedents regular bail