Pushpa Raj Shukla v. The State

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

[ CIRCUIT BENCH AT PORT BLAIR ] *** CRM(DB)/11/2024 Pushpa Raj Shukla Vs.

The State Mr. Siddhartha Singha ... for the petitioner Ms.A.S.Zinu ... for the State August 09, 2024 [SR] Item no.5 The petitioner renews his prayer for bail which was rejected by a Coordinate Bench by an order dated June 13, 2024 passed in CRM(DB)/5/2024.

While rejecting the petitioner's prayer, the Coordinate Bench granted liberty to the petitioner to renew his prayer for bail after 30 days from the date of that order, irrespective of whether the charge sheet has been filed by the investigating agency or not. We are told that after that order was passed, charge sheet has been submitted. However charges have not been framed. The petitioner is in custody for 320 days.

We are conscious of the restriction under section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985. It appears that commercial quantity of contraband item has been seized from the petitioner.

However, 31 witnesses have been named in the charge sheet. We see no possibility of early conclusion of the trial since even charge has not been considered. We cannot be oblivious of the paramount importance of a citizen's fundamental right to personal liberty and speedy trial under our Constitution. Such fundamental right must override all other considerations. The State raises strong objection to the petitioner's prayer. However, given that the petitioner has been in custody for a long time and charge sheet has been filed upon completion of

investigation, we are of the view that further custodial detention of the petitioner is not necessary.

Hence, we allow the petitioner's prayer for bail. Accordingly, we direct that the petitioner, namely, Pushpa Raj Shukla, shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand), with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of learned Judge, Special Court under NDPS Act, A & N Islands, Port Blair. The petitioner shall appear before the trial Court on every date of substantive hearing subject to the provisions of Section 317 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and shall not intimidate the witnesses and/or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever. The petitioner shall not leave the jurisdiction of the local police station except for the purpose of attending the court proceedings and shall report to the Officer-in-Charge of the said police station once in a week, until further orders.

In the event the petitioner fails to comply with any of the conditions stipulated above, the trial Court shall be at liberty to cancel his bail in accordance with law without further reference to this Court.

The application for bail being CRM (DB)/11/2024 is, thus, allowed.

All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. The Department is directed to supply certified copies of this order to the parties, if applied for, upon compliance of all necessary formalities.

( Arijit Banerjee J.) ( Sugato Majumdar, J. )