Prashant Dhami vs State Of Uttarakhand

Alok Kumar Verma, J

Present Application has been filed for grant of regular bail under Section 8/20/60 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short, “Act, 1985”) in connection with the Case Crime No.395 of 2023, registered at police station Raipur, District Dehradun.

As per the First Information Report dated 19.09.2023, informant-Naveen Joshi, Senior Sub-Inspector, was busy in maintaining law and order along with other police personnel. On suspicion, applicant was apprehended by the police party. Police party recovered 500 grams charas from the bag of the applicant. He was arrested at 17:05 hrs.

Heard Ms. Divya Jain, learned counsel for applicant and Mrs. Manisha Rana Singh, learned A.G.A. for the State.

Ms. Divya Jain, Advocate contended that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present matter. Nothing was recovered from his possession. Provisions of the Act, 1985 were not followed. Applicant does not have any criminal antecedents. He is a permanent resident of District Dehradun, therefore, there is no chance of his absconding, and, the alleged contraband is in non-commercial quantity.

Mrs. Manisha Rana Singh, learned A.G.A. for the State has opposed the bail application orally.

As per Table prepared under Section 2 (xxiii-a) and Section 2 (vii-a) of the said Act, 1985, lesser than 100 grams of charas is small quantity and greater than 01 Kilogram of charas is commercial quantity (Entry No.23).

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 – Prashant Dhami 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.