Anticipatory Bail Is Never Granted In NDPS Act Cases : Supreme Court

"Anticipatory bail is never granted in NDPS case", the Supreme Court orally observed yesterday, while refusing to interfere with Punjab and Haryana High Court's denial of anticipatory bail to an accused booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and KV Viswanathan heard the matter and passed the order thus:"We are not satisfied that any error has been committed by the High Court in refusing anticipatory bail to the petitioner in NDPS Case."It however added that the petitioner could surrender before the Trial Court and apply for regular bail, which shall be dealt with on its own merits in accordance with law.As per the prosecution case, the name of the petitioner surfaced in disclosure statements of co-accused, from whose possession recovery of 60 kgs of Doda Post and 1kg 800 grams of opium was effected. The petitioner was named by the co-accused as supplier of the contraband.The state opposed the bail plea before the High Court, contending that the contraband recovered fell within commercial quantity, attracting Section 37 of NDPS Act, and custodial interrogation of the petitioner was required to unearth the modus operandi.The petitioner, on the other hand, claimed that he was falsely implicated and roped in based on disclosure statements, though he was not named in the FIR.After hearing the parties, the High Court noted that the petitioner was specifically named as the supplier by the co-accused and there were also records of telephonic conversations between the petitioner and the co-accused. Further, there were bank transactions between the said accused.As such, the High Court found no case for grant of anticipatory bail. Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.Notably, in September last year, the top Court expressed surprise at the grant of anticipatory bail in an NDPS case. A bench of Justices BR Gavai (now CJI), Aravind Kumar and KV Viswanathan even asked the State of West Bengal to consider filing applications seeking the cancellation of pre-arrest bail granted to the accused. "Grant of anticipatory bail in an NDPS matter is a very serious issue. We therefore direct the State to consider if it proposes to apply for the cancellation of Anticipatory Bail granted to the accused", the bench observed.In April this year, the Supreme Court however granted anticipatory bail to another accused in an NDPS case, who was booked for possession of Tapentadol Hydrochloride tablets (a pain reliever used to treat moderate to severe acute pain). Since Tapentadol Hydrochloride is not included in the Schedule of the Act, the Court said that it is not a psychotropic substance.Appearance: AoR Dhiraj Kumar Sammi and Advocate Sanjay S (for petitioner)Case Title: DINESH CHANDER Versus STATE OF HARYANA, SLP(Crl) No. 9540/2025Click Here To Read/Download Order

Anticipatory Bail Is Never Granted In NDPS Act Cases : Supreme Court

Debby Jain

Tags