Shemil.P.S vs State Of Kerala

Ziyad Rahman, A.A, J

The petitioner is the 3rd accused in Crime No.500/2023 of Malampuzha Police Station, Palakkad which was registered for the offences punishable under Sections 20(b) and 29 of the NDPS Act.

The prosecution case is that, on 13.07.2023 at 5.00 p.m., the petitioner along with accused Nos.1 and 2 were found travelling in a car from Coimbatore to Thrissur with 3.90 grams of MDMA. The crime was registered in such circumstances and the petitioner and other accused were arrested on the same day. Since then, they have been in judicial custody. This application for regular bail is submitted in such circumstances.

Heard Sri.V.A.Johnson (Varikkappallil), learned counsel for the petitioner and Smt.Seetha S., learned Public Prosecutor for the State.

I have gone through the records. It is true that there are certain allegations against the petitioner and he was found along with other accused in the car and the recovery was effected. However, it is a fact that, the petitioner has been in judicial custody since 13.07.2023. Even though it was reported that the petitioner was involved in two other cases none of them are under the provisions of the NDPS Act. The quantity involved is intermediate to which rigour under Section 37 of NDPS would not be applicable. In such circumstances, when taking note of the period of detention the petitioner had undergone and other relevant circumstances, I do not find any necessity of further incarceration of the petitioner.

Accordingly, this application is allowed and the petitioner is directed to be released on bail subject to the following conditions:

i) The petitioner shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.

ii) The petitioner shall fully cooperate with the investigation.

iii) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Wednesday until the filing of final report.

iv) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when required.

v) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of similar nature while on bail.

vi) The petitioner shall not make any attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

vii) The petitioner shall not leave India without the permission of the jurisdictional court.

In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation of bail, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.