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Petitioner accused under Sections 22(b) and 25 of the NDPS Act, 1985 was granted bail on certain conditions: High Court of Kerala

Petitioner who is accused of commission of offence punishable under NDPS Act was granted bail, taking lenient view that he is a student and his continued detention is not required for the purpose of investigation and was upheld by High Court of Kerala through the learned bench led by  HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICEGOPINATH P.  in the case of ASHIK T SURESH v. STATE OF KERALA (BAIL APPL. NO. 2743 OF 2022) on 8th April,2022.

Brief facts of the case are that the allegations against the petitioner is that he was found in possession of 0.76 milligrams of LSD and thereby he committed the offences alleged against him under NDPS Act.

Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that the petitioner is absolutely innocent in the matter and that he has been falsely implicated. The petitioner is a student and after completing his B.Tech course, he is now undergoing a course at Aadi Institute of Quality Engineering for a Diploma in Oil and Gas. He has been in custody for 58 days and his continued detention is not necessary for the purposes of any investigation as final report has already been filed in the matter.

Public Prosecutor submitted opposed the grant of bail. He pointed out the facts and circumstances of the case and submitted that the petitioner was involved in a case under NDPS Act earlier in the year of 2018. To which Petitioner’s counsel stated that the earlier case concerns a small quantity of a narcotic drug and that case was closed in the year 2019 itself. He submitted that the said case cannot be taken as a ground to deny bail to the petitioner in this case.

In view of the facts and circumstances of the case and taking a lenient view on account of the fact that the petitioner is a student , Court held that the petitioner can be granted bail subject to conditions that the petitioner shall report before the Investigating officer whenever called, he shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court and shall not attempt to interfere with the investigation in any manner. If any of the aforesaid conditions are violated, the Investigating may file an application before the jurisdictional Court for cancellation of bail.

Click here to read the Judgment

Judgment reviewed by – Amit Singh

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