[NDPS] "Whether accused is entitled to default bail if there is no chemical analysis report along with final report?" Supreme Court to hear at length on Friday

The Supreme Court on Tuesday has deferred hearing in a plea on an important point of law which will decide - “Whether the accused is entitled to default bail if there is no chemical analysis report on record, along with the final report.” A batch of petitions are being heard together which culminate the single point of law, two of which have been filed by accused from Haryana and Delhi in appeal against rejection of bail and the third by State of Haryana.

A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice AS Bopanna, and Justice Hima Kohli has posted the matter for hearing in length on December 10.

The plea by Haryana Government, filed through Advocate Prateek Som has stipulated that there are contrary views taken by different High Courts on whether the bail can be granted in case the final report has been filed without the chemical examination report.

According to the averments, Kerala High Court had noted, “A Final Report filed in NDPS case without Chemical Analysis report is nothing but an incomplete report and hence the petitioner is liable to be released on default bail. The view of the High Court in the 1st impugned order that default bail can be granted only if the prosecution cannot prove its case without aid of chemical analysis report is completely erroneous."

The plea has stated that, "The only way to establish a prima facie case can be on the basis a chemical examiner's report to identify whether the material seized is actually a contraband or not, or what is the quantity of the material seized."

The petitioner has further added that "The opinion of an expert witness cannot be reckoned as sufficient for proving a prima facie case."

The petitioner has sought direction to settle the issue by way of making an authoritative pronouncement.

Case Title: Mohd. Arbaz Vs. State of NCT of Delhi | State of Haryana Vs. Dildar Ram | Kulbir Singh Vs. The State of Haryana