Supreme Court Grants Bail To Alleged Bangladeshi Man Accused Of Transborder Human Trafficking

Considering a custody period of about 2.5 years, the Supreme Court today granted bail to a man accused of being a Bangladeshi national and facing offences under the Indian Penal Code for allegedly trafficking persons into India from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order, while imposing stringent conditions on the petitioner-accused and requested the trial court to expedite the trial.

Briefly put, the allegation against the petitioner is that he is a Bangladeshi, serving as part of a syndicate indulging in transnational human trafficking of persons from Bangladesh and Myanmar into India. He is an accused in the case registered by the NIA for offences under Sections 370(3) and 120B of IPC along with Sections 14, 14(A)(B) and 14(C) of the Foreigners Act and Section 3 of the Passport (Entry Into India) Act, 1920 read with Rule 6 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950.

The petitioner approached the Supreme Court against the order of the Karnataka High Court denying him bail.

The prosecution is claimed that to have recovered incriminating material from him, including fake passports, etc. He was arrested on 07.11.2023 and has been in custody since then. His co-accused have apparently secured bail.

In this backdrop, the bench noted that though the petitioner's case was distinguishable from the other accused, as he did not have a permanent address, he could be granted bail given the time spent in custody, subject to stringent conditions.

Accordingly, the plea was allowed and bail granted subject to following conditions :

(a) The petitioner shall inform the local police station of NIA about the address where he will stay during trial. The NIA shall be entitled to verify the place and record statement of landlord, neighbor etc.;

(b) He shall report to NIA every week on Saturday between 11-12 pm, unless the highest officer of NIA in Bangalore grants exemption;

(c) He shall fully cooperate with the trial and no adjournment shall be sought on his behalf;

(d) His passport shall be seized.

Case Title: AMOL CHANDRA DAS @ AMOL DAS @ SUJIB Versus NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY, SLP(Crl) No. 5567/2026