UNLESS SECTION 37 IS NOT AMENDED BY THE LEGISLATURE IN CASES SPECIFICALLY REFERRED UNDER SECTION 37(1)(B) OF THE NDPS ACT, THE COURT COULD NOT GRANT BAIL WITHOUT RECORDING SATISFACTION OF THE ABOVE TWIN INGREDIENT:KERALA HIGH COURT
The High Court of Kerala passed a judgement on 1 March, 2023 stated that unless section 37 is not amended by the legislature in cases specifically referred under section 37(1)(b) of the NDPS Act, the court could not grant bail without recording satisfaction of the above twin ingredient. It was stated in the case of Shan. M.S vs State Of Kerala(BAIL APPL. NO. 1395 OF 2023)which was passed by the single judge bench comprising of JUSTICE A. BADHARUDEEN
FACTS OF THE CASE:
The prosecution case is that on 10.11.2022, the Circle Inspector of Excise Range, Neyyattinkara was conducting vehicle checking at Amaravila RTO Check post, it was found that the accused herein, who were travelled in a vehicle, possessed 75 gram of MDMA, 5 ATM cards, Election ID card and PAN card. While recording the confession statement of the 1st accused, he had stated that the 3rd accused handed over the contraband and on further investigation, it was revealed that all the accused jointly transported the contraband. On this premise, the prosecution alleges commission of offenses punishable under Sections 22(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act. The contraband was seized and the accused was arrested from the spot. While pressing for regular bail, the learned counsel for the petitioner highlighted that the petitioner is innocent and he has no criminal antecedents. His custody also is pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioner.
JUDGEMENT OF THE CASE
Evaluation of the prosecution materials on par with the arguments tendered by the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor, the Court could no satisfy that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the petitioner is innocent and he will not commit any offence while on bail. Therefore application for regular bail at the instance of the petitioner must fail.Hence the petition stood dismissed.
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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY ROSHNI SABU, KERALA LAW ACADEMY LAW COLLEGE.