Palan Mondal v. State Of West Bengal

15.09.2023 Sl. No.6 akd [ALLOWED] C. R. M. (NDPS) 1519 of 2023 In Re: An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure filed on 08.09.2023 in connection with Maidan Police Station Case No.114 of 2020 dated 13.10.2020 under Section 20(b)(ii)(c) of the NDPS Act. (NDPS Case No.37 of 2020) And In Re: Palan Mondal ... ... Petitioner Mr. Joy Chakraborty Mr. Sandip Dinda ... ... for the petitioner Mr. Rudradipta Nandy .. ld. Addl. Public Prosecutor Mrs. Sonali Das ... ... for the State

1. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that he is in custody for over two years and eight months. It is further submitted there is inordinate delay in trial. Accordingly, he prays for bail.

2. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposes the prayer for bail and submits trial is in progress. Two witnesses have been examined.

3. We have considered the materials on record. Petitioner is in custody for a protracted period of time. Only two out of eight witnesses have been examined till date. There is little possibility of trial concluding in the near future. Delay in the matter cannot be attributed to the petitioner. Under such circumstances, we are of the opinion petitioner has been able to make out a case of breach of his fundamental right to speedy trial and he is entitled to bail on this score. Bail prayer on the ground of inordinate delay in trial is not fettered by restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act. Reference

in this regard may be made to Rabi Prakash vs. The State of Odisha1.

4. Therefore, the accused/petitioner, namely Palan Mondal, be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten thousand only), with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under the NDPS Act, Bench-I, City Sessions Court, Calcutta subject to condition that the said petitioner shall appear before the trial court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever or commit similar offences in future.

5. In the event he fails to appear before the trial court without any justifiable cause, the trial court shall be at liberty to cancel his bail automatically without reference to this court.

6. The application for bail, thus, stands allowed. (Ajay Kumar Gupta, J.) (Joymalya Bagchi, J.) 1 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1109