Ummer Farooq vs State Of Kerala

This is an application filed u/s 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail.

The petitioner is the accused No. 2 in Crime No.426 /2020 of Manjeswar Police Station. The offences alleged are under Sections 20(b)(ii)(c) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The prosecution case in short is that on 21.07.2020 at 13.35 hours, the accused were found to have possessed and transported 109.08 kgs of Ganja in a pick-up van No.KA 18B 5486 in contravention of the NDPS Act and Rules and thereby committed the offence.

Heard both sides and perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is absolutely innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submitted that there are no materials to connect the petitioner with the alleged crime and hence he is entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. He contended that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the petitioner and if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, it would affect the course of investigation.

The petitioner was arrested on 29.01.2021 and since then he is in judicial custody. The case diary reveals that prima facie, there are materials on record to show the involvement of the petitioner in the crime. The petitioner along with the first accused were travelling in a pickup van. At that time the vehicle was intercepted by the police, the petitioner as well as the first accused were ran away. On search of the pick up van, the contraband articles mentioned above was seized. The quantity involved is huge and commercial quantity. Since the quantity involved is commercial quantity, the jurisdiction of this Court to grant bail is circumscribed by the provisions of Section 37of the NDPS Act. Bail can be granted in cases where there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused were not guilty of such an offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

Having considered the submissions and after going through the materials on record, I am afraid that there are no substantial and probable cause for believing that the petitioner is not guilty of the offences charged. The petitioner has not been able to point out the existence of any such facts or circumstances as are sufficient to justify a finding that he is not guilty of the offences charged. Considering the gravity of the offences, and the circumstances mentioned above, I am of the view that the petitioner cannot be released on bail at this stage. The application is only to be dismissed.

In the result, the bail application is dismissed.