TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (6) TMI 778
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.... 7995 was being taken; and that he had no knowledge that the said truck apart from containing Papayas contained 500.18 Kg. of crystalline powder suspected to be Amphetamine which truck was driven by one Hakmuddin @ Hakka with a cleaner named Shokat Ali. 3. The applicant has submitted further that he had retracted his statement under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, 1985; that his statement is wholly exculpatory; that there is no recovery of any material fact, document or contraband from him, and that even as per the statement of Hakmuddin @ Hakka, the driver of the said truck in question, the applicant allegedly boarded the truck to guide the driver to the house of Dina, his uncle, and Dina was also there in his Innova car; and as per the statement of the driver, the truck contained some articles of Sh. Deen Mohd. Khan @ Dina which were to be dropped at his house and Papaya was to be delivered at Mangalore. 4. Inter alia, the applicant has submitted that there is no complaint that has been lodged against Dina nor has he been arrested; and that the statement under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, 1985 of the applicant is not admissible against him; and that there has been no material of any....
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...., 1985 applicable in the instant case and that none of the co-accused are on bail. 10. Inter alia, reliance was placed on behalf of the respondent DRI on the order dated 27-5-2019 in Vaibhav Shah v. DRI in Bail Appln. 1324/2019, order dated 7-8-2020 in Bail Appln. 2103/2020, in which the application was permitted to be withdrawn, order dated 27-5-2019 in Bail Appln. 1324/2019, whereby the application was dismissed as withdrawn, order dated 7-1-2022 in Bail Appln. 659/2019, whereby the prayer made by the petitioner seeking release on bail was declined though the Learned Trial Court was directed to expeditiously record the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses. 11. The DRI has further placed reliance on the following verdicts :- * "Union of India v. Rattan Malik @ Habul - Criminal Appeal No. 137 of 2009, decided on 23-1-2009, submitting to the effect that the Hon'ble Supreme Court inter alia held therein that the satisfaction contemplated regarding accused being not guilty, has to be based on 'reasonable grounds', and that the expression 'reasonable grounds' implies something more than prima facie ground, and that the mandatory requirements under Section 37 of the NDPS....
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....if the allegations made in the charge are established. Moreover, the evidence having not been completely adduced before the Court one cannot say that there were no grounds to hold that he was not guilty of such an offence. Further, the liberty of a citizen has got to be balanced with the interest of the society. In cases where narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances are involved, the accused would indulge in activities which are lethal to the society. Therefore, it would certainly be in the interest of the society to keep such persons behind bars during the pendency of the proceedings before the Court". * Intelligence Officer, Narcotics C. Bureau v. Sambhu Sonkar & Anr. - 2001 SCC (Crl) 346, with observations therein to the effect :- "The contention that the liberal interpretation given by the High Court to Section 37 is justified as it affects personal liberty of a citizen who is yet to be tried is not acceptable. Considering the legislative intent of curbing the practice of giving bail on technical ground is a crime which aversely affects the entire society including the lives of a number of persons and the object of making stringent provisions for control of illicit traf....
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....be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offences with which he is charged and further that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail, and that a liberal approach in the matter of bail under NDPS Act, 1985 is not called for. The DRI has thus sought the dismissal of the bail application of the applicant. 12. On a consideration of the submissions that have been made on behalf of either side, it is essential to observe that the date of arrest of the applicant is 21-2-2015 and that a period of more than seven years from the date of arrest of the applicant has since elapsed, the offence allegedly committed by the applicant punishable under Sections 22, 27A and 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985 in relation to the commercial quantity of 500 kgs. of mephedrone allegedly seized from the truck, in which the applicant was also allegedly present, is punishable with Rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to twenty years and to a fine which shall not be less than Rs. 1 Lakh but which may extend to Rs. 2 lakhs. 13. In terms of the verdict of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in "Supreme Cou....
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.... if he has reason to doubt the accuracy of the statement, write to the Passport Officer concerned to verify the statement and the Passport Officer shall verify his record and send a reply within three weeks. If he fails to reply within the said time, the Learned Special Judge will be entitled to act on the statement of the undertrial accused; (ii) the undertrial accused shall on being released on bail present himself at the police station which has prosecuted him at least once in a month in the case of those covered under clause (i), once in a fortnight in the case of those covered under clause (ii) and once in a week in the case of those covered by clause (iii), unless leave of absence is obtained in advance from the Special Judge concerned; (iii) the benefit of the direction in clauses (ii) and (iii) shall not be available to those accused persons who are, in the opinion of the Learned Special Judge, for reasons to be stated in writing, likely to tamper with evidence or influence the prosecution witnesses; (iv) in the case of undertrial accused who are foreigners, the Special Judge shall, besides impounding their passports, insist o....