Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act – Section 50 – Search of Person – Mandatory Provisions – Petitioners granted regular bail – Reference to a Larger Bench due to conflicting interpretations by Coordinate Benches regarding whether a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate is required to re-apprise the accused of their right to be searched in the officer's presen...
Bail Application – NDPS Act – Methamphetamine Seizure – Regular Bail Granted – The petitioner was arrested for possessing 13.87 grams of contraband initially identified as MDMA, but later confirmed as Methamphetamine – After failure by the Investigating Officer to submit the chemical analysis report on time, the petitioner was granted interim bail – Held: Given ...
FACTS:
The appellant, Gangadhar alias Gangaram, was convicted under the NDPS Act for the recovery of 48 Kgs 200 gms of cannabis (ganja) and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The lower courts held the appellant to be the owner of the house from where the contraband was recovered, rejecting his defense that he had sold the house to a co-accused.
The appellant produced a sale a...
Facts:
The case involved conflicting opinions from different two-Judge Benches of the Supreme Court. In the case of Mohan Lal, it was held that when the informant is also the investigator, the trial is vitiated, and the accused is entitled to acquittal. However, in the subsequent case of Varinder Kumar, it was observed that the law laid down in Mohan Lal should apply prospectively and not affe...
Facts:
The case involves a dispute over the determination of "small quantity" or "commercial quantity" of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances under the NDPS Act, specifically when they are present in a mixture along with neutral substances. The court addressed the challenge to a notification (Notification No. 2942(E) dated 18.11.2009) issued by the Union of India, whic...
Criminal Law – Grant of Bail – NDPS Act – Appeal against the grant of post-arrest bail to accused under NDPS Act – Section 37 mandates that no person accused of certain offences under NDPS Act shall be released on bail unless the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application, and the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believ...
NDPS Act – Representative Sampling of Seized Drugs – Compliance with Standing Order No. 1/89 – The court addressed whether the entire seized drug property or only representative samples must be sent to the FSL for analysis – Held: Only representative samples of seized narcotic drugs, after homogeneous mixing of the bulk property, need to be sent to the FSL – The full ...
Default Bail – Right to Bail under Section 167(2) Cr.P.C. – The appellant was arrested under Sections 153-A, 295-A, 124-A, 120-B of the IPC, and Sections 17 and 18 of the UAPA – He sought default bail on the grounds that the investigation was not completed within 90 days – Held: The right to default bail is an indefeasible right, and since the appellant applied for bail aft...
Criminal Law – Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 – Conviction under Section 18 – Appellant convicted for possessing 1.75 kg of opium – Trial Court sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fine – High Court affirmed conviction – Appeal to Supreme Court raising issues of incomplete link evidence and non-examination of independent witn...
Criminal Law – Regular Bail – NDPS Act – Petitioner sought regular bail for being implicated in a narcotics case based on the disclosure statement of co-accused without any recovery from him. The petitioner argued for bail citing prior similar bail grants and lengthy custody without trial progression.
Multiple Cases and Habitual Offender – Petitioner had numero...