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Synopsis

In a recent criminal special leave to appeal against the Rajasthan High Court's judgment, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol granted bail to an accused person facing charges under Section 8 read with Section 18 and 25 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS).

The case stems from a First Information Report (FIR) registered against the accused by Narcotic Control Bureau officers in Jodhpur on August 19, 2017. Following this, a complaint was lodged before the Additional Sessions Judge, Special Judge, NDPS Act, charging the accused with offenses under Section 8 read with Sections 18 and 25 of the NDPS Act.

The accused's initial bail application before the Additional Sessions Judge was dismissed, and subsequently, a similar application before the High Court met the same fate, leading to the present appeal.

The crux of the accused's argument was his prolonged incarceration of six years and two months, surpassing half the prescribed punishment period for the charged offenses. The court took note that the accused was held in connection with 10-12 kg of Opium. The accused was represented by Advocate on Record Namit Saxena, Advocate Awnish Maithani, Advocate Shivam Raghuwanshi.

The bench highlighted that four prosecution witnesses had testified before the trial court, with only eight remaining. This led the court to observe that the trial was unlikely to conclude shortly, considering the progress made and the accused's extended period of pre-trial imprisonment.

Consequently, the division bench granted bail to the accused, subject to appropriate bail conditions, acknowledging the prolonged incarceration and the evolving trial circumstances.

Case Title: Deva Ram v. State of Rajasthan