Subhankar Roy@Body v. The State Of West Bengal

CIRCUIT BENCH OF CALCUTTA HIGH COURT AT JALPAIGURI 22.08.2023 Court No.1 Item No.20 (sg/KS) CRM (NDPS) 591 of 2023 In Re: An application for Bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 filed in connection with Alipurduar Police Station Case No.367 of 2022 dated 21.07.2022 under Sections 21(c)/25 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

And In the matter of:

Subhankar Roy @ Body . .. . . . . .Petitioner.

Mr. Partha Pratim Sarkar Mr. Sudip Guha For the Petitioner.

Mr. Abhijit Sarkar Mr. Aniruddha Biswas For the State.

1.

The memorandum of arrest is admittedly by a raiding party, namely a constable, whose name also features in the charge-sheet. This is also the stand of learned counsel appearing for the prosecution. 2.

As held in other orders, the memorandum of arrest must be signed by a family member of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. This is the statutory mandate of Section 41B of the Code of Criminal Procedure pursuant to the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in D. K. Basu reported in (1997) 1 SCC 416.

3.

We are accordingly of the view that the above circumstances are sufficient to rebut the statutory restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act. 4.

The learned Trial Court will however consider the import of the judgment reported in 2011 Vol.3 SCC 521 (Journal Singh Vs. State of Punjab). 5.

The petitioner shall accordingly be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand only) with two sureties of like amount each, one of who must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court, under NDPS Act, 1st Court, Jalpaiguri. The petitioner shall not induce witnesses or influence them or tamper with the evidence. The petitioner shall also make himself available for the trial as and when the petitioner is required and shall also not leave the jurisdiction of the concerned police station without leave of the concerned authorities.

6.

CRM (NDPS) 591 of 2023 is accordingly allowed and disposed of in terms of the above.

(PRASENJIT BISWAS, J.) (MOUSHUMI BHATTACHARYA,J.)