Gagandeep Singh Alias Gagga v. State Of Punjab
In the High Court for the States of Punjab and Haryana At Chandigarh Date of Decision:-05.12.2022 Gagandeep Singh @ Gagga ... Petitioner
Versus
State of Punjab ... Respondent
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GURVINDER SINGH GILL Present:- Mr. S.P.S.Khaira, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Siddharth Attri, AAG, Punjab, assisted by ASI Gursewak Singh.
***** GURVINDER SINGH GILL, J.(Oral) 1.
The petitioner seeks grant of regular bail in respect of a case registered against him vide FIR No.021, dated 30.1.2020, Police Station Sadar Jagraon, District Ludhiana Rural, under Sections 22, 25 of the NDPS Act (Section 29 of NDPS Act added later on) wherein it is alleged that the petitioner was found in possession of 900 tablets of 'Tramadol' weighing 363.6 grams. 2.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he has falsely been implicated in the present case and otherwise has a clean record. It has further been submitted that the petitioner has been behind bars for a substantial period of 2 years, 10 months and 7 days and that since the trial is proceeding at snail's pace, the petitioner deserves the concession of regular bail.
( 2 ) 3.
On the other hand, learned State counsel while opposing the petition submits that since the petitioner was found in possession of 'commercial quantity' of contraband, no case for grant of bail is made out. Learned State counsel has, however, informed that the petitioner has been behind bars since the last about 2 years, 10 months and 7 days. Learned State counsel has also informed that the petitioner is not involved in any other case. It has also been informed that as on date none out of the cited 14 PWs has been examined. 4.
I have considered rival submissions addressed before this Court. 5.
Since the petitioner seeks grant of bail mainly on account of long custody, it is apposite to refer to a few judgments of Hon'ble Supreme Court in this regard wherein Hon'ble Supreme Court has granted the concession of bail solely on ground of long custody:
Case Number Date of Decision Title of Case Period which the accused had undergone when granted bail by Hon'ble Supreme Court.
Criminal Appeal No.
245/2020 07.02.2020 Chitta Biswas @ Subhas Vs.
the State of West Bengal 1 year and 7 months Criminal Appeal No.
668/2020 12.10.2020 Amit Singh Moni Vs.
State of Himachal Pradesh 2 years and 7 months Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.
5769/2022 01.08.2022 Nitish Adhikary @ Bapan Vs.
the State of West Bengal 1 year and 7 months Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.
04.08.2022 Shariful Islam @ Sarif Vs.
the State of West Bengal 1 year and 6 months Criminal Appeal No.
05.08.2022 Gopal Krishna Patra @ Gopalrusma Vs. Union of India 2 years 1 month and 17 days Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.
5530-2022 22.08.2022 Mohammad Salman Hanif Shaikh Vs. the State of Gujarat About 2 years
( 3 ) Criminal Appeal No.
2027-2022 22.11.2022 Karnail Singh Vs. The State of Odisha 1 Year and 8 months Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No.
8653-2022 25.11.2022 Karim Adaldar Vs. The State of West Bengal 10 months 6.
Keeping in view the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case particularly the long custody of the petitioner and the fact that none out of the cited 14 PWs has been examined till date, the petition merits acceptance. 7.
The petition, as such, is allowed and the petitioner is ordered to be released on regular bail on his furnishing bail bonds/surety bonds to the satisfaction of learned trial Court/Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate concerned. 8.
It is, however, directed that in case the petitioner is found to be indulging in similar offence again, the prosecution would be at liberty to move an application for cancellation of bail before this Court. 05.12.2022 ( GURVINDER SINGH GILL ) mohan JUDGE Whether speaking /reasoned Yes / No Whether Reportable Yes / No