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While cancelling bail, court has said such a relief would give a wrong message to the society that being a patient of such a disease is a license to indulge in such serious offences with impunity
Supreme Court of India has cancelled the bail granted to a woman accused of offences under Sections 21(c)/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, only on the grounds of her suffering from Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
In this case, the quantity of the contraband involved was 1.040 kgs of heroin.
Top Court noted the bail was granted on the ground that accused was suffering from HIV and conspicuously, without adverting to the mandate under Section 37(1)(b)(ii), NDPS Act, even after taking note of the fact that the rigour of Section 37, NDPS Act, calls for consideration in view of the involvement of commercial quantity of the contraband substance.
"In cases of like nature, granting bail solely on the ground mentioned, relying on the decision in Bhawani Singh vs. State of Rajasthan would not only go against the spirit of the said decision but also would give a wrong message to the society that being a patient of such a disease is a license to indulge in such serious offences with impunity", a bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Prashant Kumar Mishra has observed.
As the High Court of Meghalaya had granted bail to the accused woman sans satisfactory consideration of the twin conditions under Section 37(1)(b)(ii) of the NDPS Act, State of Meghalaya approached the Top Court by way of a Special Leave Petition.
Court was further of the view that while considering the application for bail made by an accused involved in an offence under NDPS Act a liberal approach ignoring the mandate under Section 37 of the NDPS Act was impermissible.
Case Title: The State of Meghalaya vs. Lalrintluanga Sailo & Anr
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