NDPS Act | Supreme Court Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Possessing 22 KG Ganja On Sole Ground Of Trial Delay
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 5) granted regular bail to a man accused of possessing nearly 22 kg of ganja, observing that he had remained in custody for over a year and that the trial was unlikely to conclude anytime soon, particularly as not a single witness has been examined so far.
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan granted a discretionary relief to the Appellant-accused against whom an FIR was registered for the offence punishable under Sections 8(c), 20(b) (ii) (c) and 29(1) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act), respectively.
The case involved a commercial quantity; therefore, the High Court refused to grant him bail, leading to the filing of a plea before the Supreme Court.
Upon being informed by the Appellant's counsel that he was in jail for more than a year, with no witness examined to date, the Court proceeded to exercise its discretion in the Appellant's favor.
“We are informed that although charge has been framed by the Trial Court yet till this date not a single witness has been examined…In the facts and circumstances of this case, we are persuaded to exercise our discretion in favour of the petitioner.”, the Court noted, signaling that the accused's right to a speedy trial would otherwise be hampered.
Notably, a bench led by Justice Sanjay Karol in a recent matter of State of Punjab v Sukhwinder Singh @ Gora, 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 421, set aside the Punjab & Haryana High Court's decision granting bail to an accused solely on account of the delay in trial. Therein, the Court held that the right to speedy trial under Article 21 cannot override the stringent statutory requirements for the grant of bail under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1987, particularly in cases involving a commercial quantity.
As per Section 37 of the NDPS Act, while considering a bail plea, the court is required to record satisfaction of the following twin conditions :
(i) There are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty of the offence,
(ii) The accused is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
Cause Title: RAJADURAI VERSUS THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU
Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 462
Appearance:
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Narender Kumar Verma, AOR Ms. Mahimai Antoni Jeyam, Adv. Mr. Lenin K, Adv. Mr. Abbas, Adv. Mr. A. Lakshminarayanan, AOR Mr. U Kathiravan, Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR