Alok Chauhan vs State Of Uttarakhand

Alok Kumar Verma, J

Present Bail Application has been filed for grant of regular bail in respect of First Information Report No. 128 of 2023, registered at police station Ramnagar, District Nainital under Section 8 read with Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short, ‘Act, 1985’).

As per FIR dated 21.03.2023, informant Rajesh Joshi, Sub-Inspector, along with other police personnel were busy in patrolling duty. On suspicion, applicant was apprehended. A total of ten injections of Buprenorphine were recovered from the possession of the present applicant. He was arrested.

Heard Mr. A.D. Tripathi, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr. V.S. Rathore, learned A.G.A. along with Ms. Sangeeta Bhardwaj, learned Brief Holder for the State.

Mr. A.D. Tripathi, Advocate, has submitted that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present matter. Nothing was recovered from his possession. There is no public witness in the alleged recovery proceedings. Applicant has no criminal history. He is in custody since 21.03.2023. He is a permanent resident of District Nainital, therefore, there is no apprehension of his absconding, and, the alleged contraband is non-commercial.

Learned counsel for the State has opposed the bail application. He contended that a total of 20 grams of Buprenorphine were recovered from the possession of the present applicant, therefore, the recovered contraband is in commercial quantity. However, he fairly submitted that the applicant has no criminal history.

As per the Table prepared under Section 2 (xxiii-a) and Section 2 (vii-a) of the Act, 1985, lesser than 1 gram of Buprenorphine is small quantity and greater than 20 grams of Buprenorphine is commercial quantity (Entry No. 169).

According to Entry No.169 of the Table of the Notification of the Central Government, the recovery of 20 grams of Buprenorphine falls within the perview of commercial quantity. However, according to Section 2 (vii-a) of the Act, 1985, “Commercial quantity”, in relation to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, means any quantity “greater than” the quantity specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette. Section 2 (vii-a) of the Act, 1985 shall prevail over the Notification. Therefore, 20 grams of Buprenorphine falls under non-commercial category.

Having considered the submissions of learned counsel for both the parties and in the facts and circumstances of the case, there is no reason to keep the applicant behind the bars for an indefinite period, therefore, without expressing any opinion as to the merit of the case, this Court is of the view that the applicant deserves bail at this stage.

The Bail Application is allowed.

Let the applicant – Alok Chauhan be released on bail on his executing a personal bond and furnishing two reliable sureties, each in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the court concerned.