Punjab & Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Rapido Cab Driver Whose Customer Was Apprehended With Drugs

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted regular bail to a cab driver accused in a case involving recovery of commercial quantity of Tramadol, observing that prima facie the contraband was recovered from a passenger who had booked the ride through the Rapido app and that the question of conscious possession would be determined during trial.

Justice Subhas Mehla noted, "The petitioner is a cab driver and was operating a cab that had been booked by the co-accused through 'rapido' app. The said co- accused/customer was apprehended in possession of contraband (i.e. from rear seat)"

As per the prosecution case, two bags containing 15,000 tablets of Tramadol were recovered from the back seat of a car in which the petitioner, a cab driver, was travelling along with co-accused persons. The recovery was stated to be of commercial quantity.

Counsel for the petitioner argued that he had been falsely implicated, submitting that the contraband was recovered from passengers who had booked his cab through an app-based service. It was further contended that no recovery had been effected from the petitioner, he had clean antecedents, and had been in custody for over five months.

The State opposed the bail plea, emphasizing that the recovery was of commercial quantity and that the petitioner was apprehended along with the co-accused. However, on a specific query by the Court, the State acknowledged that during investigation it was found that the petitioner had no prior contact with the co-accused before the ride booking.

Taking note of this, the Court observed that the petitioner was merely operating a cab that had been booked by the co-accused, and the alleged contraband was recovered from the rear seat occupied by them. It further noted that, at this stage, the ownership and knowledge of the contraband appeared to be attributable to the passenger, which would be a matter for trial.

"As per State's reply the petitioner was not in contact with the co- accused prior to booking of cab. So, at this stage for disposal of present petition, prima facie, laguage (contraband) seems to belong to customer of cab (i.e. co-accused and it is a moot question to be adjudicated during trial)," it said

The Court also considered the petitioner's custody period of over five months, his clean antecedents, and the likelihood of delay in conclusion of trial. Reiterating the settled principle that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception,” the Court held that no useful purpose would be served by keeping the petitioner in further custody.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition and directed that the petitioner be released on regular bail upon furnishing requisite bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court.

Mr. Atul Aggarwal, Advocate with Mr. Samarth Suri, Advocate,

Mr. V. Yashvir Singh, Advocate and Mr. Sandeep Suri, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Sandeep Kumar, DAG, Punjab.

Title: Ram Kumar Pandey v. State of Punjab

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