Sami Alam Ansari@Sunny Alam Ansari v. The State Of West Bengal

Calcutta High Court In the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri 26.11.2024 Item No.37 Court No.1 (GB) (Allowed) CRM (NDPS) 531 of 2024 In Re: - An application for bail under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973/Section 483 of the B.N.S.S. 2023 in connection with Siliguri Police Station Case No.430/2024 dated 06.05.2024 under Sections 20(C)/22(C)/25/29 of NDPS Act, 1985. And In the matter of: Sami Alam Ansari @ Sunny Alam Anasari ....Petitioner.

Mr. P. Roy, Ms. Sohini Kundu ...for the Petitioner.

Mr. Kallol Acharjee, Mr. Kallol Nag ... for the State.

1. The learned advocate for the present petitioner submits that there was a contravention of the mandate of provisions of Section 42(2) of the NDPS Act, at the time of alleged seizure of the contraband articles. He places reliance upon a judgment in the matter of Boota Singh and Others versus State of Haryana reported in (2021) 19 SCC 606 and submits that such contravention is enough to vitiate the entire trial. Apart from that, he also takes the plea that the present petitioner is in custody for a period of six months and charge has not yet been framed. Moreover, 24 persons have been cited as witnesses and there is no likelihood of early conclusion of the trial. On such grounds he prays for bail.

2. Learned advocate for the State produces the case diary and vehemently opposes the prayer for bail. He submits that contravention of any provisions of Section 42(2) of the NDPS Act, can be agitated at the time of trial and such point cannot be raised at the time of pressing an application for bail.

3. Heard the learned advocates. Perused other materials on record including the case diary. From the charge-sheet, it is evident that 24 persons have been cited as witnesses. The charge-sheet was submitted on September 30, 2024, but charges have not yet been framed. There is hardly any progress since the filing of the charge-sheet. We are of the opinion that there is no possibility of conclusion of the trial in the near future.

4. Under such circumstances, we are inclined to grant bail on the ground that prolonged incarceration of the petitioner militates against the provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act. The petitioner shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.25,000/- with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, 2nd Special Court, (NDPS Act) at Siliguri. The petitioner shall appear before the learned trial court on each and every date of hearing and shall not intimidate the witnesses or tamper with any evidence. The petitioner shall not leave the jurisdiction of the trial court. In case of failure to comply with the above directions, the learned trial Judge shall be entitled to cancel the bail without further reference to this Court.

5. The application for bail, being CRM (NDPS) 531 of 2024 is, thus, disposed of.

6. All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

(Shampa Sarkar, J.) (Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, J.)