Kerala High Court Grants Bail To NDPS Accused, Says Relative Was Only Informed Grounds Of Arrest Over Phone, Not In Writing

The Kerala High Court recently granted bail to a person accused of an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) after noting that the grounds of his arrest was not intimated in writing to his relative and it was done only over phone.Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath noted that there are prima facie material to connect the accused with the crime but since the mandate of intimation of grounds of arrest in writing to his relative was not complied with, his arrest is vitiated.“Though prima facie there are materials on record to connect the applicant with the crime, since the applicant has raised a question of absence of communication of the grounds of his arrest, let me consider the same…In the instant case, the perusal of the records show that the grounds of arrest were duly communicated to the arrestee. However, the grounds of arrest were not intimated to the relative in writing. Admittedly, the relative was intimated over phone only… Inasmuch as the grounds of arrest were not communicated to the relatives of the applicant in writing, the arrest stands vitiated and he is entitled to be released on bail,” the Court observed.The petitioner is the 5th accused in the crime alleging commission of the offences under Sections 22(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act. The prosecution allegation was that the first accused was found in possession of 1.48 grams of MDMA in a quarters located upstairs of the Karipur CPM Branch Committee office. Further, the accused 1 to 3 were found in possession of 39.110 grams of MDMA and a total of 40.590 grams were recovered from the afore location. According to the prosecution, the MDMA was procured from the petitioner for the purpose of supplying to the 4th accused. The petitioner was then arrested on 23.01.2026 and was in custody since then. The petitioner argued that the grounds of his arrest were not duly intimated as mandated by law.The Court relied on various precedents laid down by the Supreme Court and High Court and observed that it is now mandatory to intimate written grounds of arrest to relative of arrestee. Since in the present case, the relative was only intimated over phone, the Court felt it fit to grant bail, noting that the arrest was illegal.Thus, the Court allowed the bail application and directed the Jail Superintendent of Manjeri District Jail to release the petitioner.Case No: Bail Appl. No. 828 of 2026Case Title: Basheer Thaliyil v. State of Kerala and Anr.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 119Counsel for the petitioner: P.Mohamed Sabah, Libin Stanley, Saipooja, Sadik Ismayil, R.Gayathri, M.Mahin Hamza, Alwin Joseph, Benson AmbroseCounsel for the respondents: Sreeja V. – Senior public prosecutorClick to Read/Download Order

Kerala High Court Grants Bail To NDPS Accused, Says Relative Was Only Informed Grounds Of Arrest Over Phone, Not In Writing

K. Salma Jennath

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