Siraj Ul Islam @ Sirajul Islam and Anr v. The State of Assam

ORDER Date : 08.08.2023

Heard Ms. O. Kits, learned Counsel for the accused petitioners as well as Mr. B.B.Gogoi, learned Additional Public Prosecutor. By this 2nd petition under Section 439 Cr.P.C., the accused-petitioners, namely, 1. Siraj UI Islam @ Sirajul Islam and 2. Nirmal Ghosh have prayed for grant of bail in connection with Special NDPS Case No. 27/2022 pending in the court of learned Special Judge, Karbi Anglong, Diphu (arising out of Diphu PS Case No.17/2022) under Sections 20 ( C) of the NDPS Act. It may be mentioned herein that vide Bail Application 1355/2022, bail prayer of the accused petitioner No. 1 was rejected by order, dated 19.07.2022 and vide Bail Application 1352/2022, bail prayer of the accused petitioner No. 2 was rejected by order, dated

19.07.2022. The scanned copy of the case record and status report, as called for, is placed before the Court. It is noticed that the accused petitioners have been in judicial custody since 03.03.2022, i.e. for 520 days. The case relates to recovery and seizure of 26.34 Kgs of Ganja from the possession of the accused petitioners and two other persons. A perusal of the case record reveals that the learned Trial Court framed charges under Sections 20(b) (ii) (c) r/w Section 29 of the N.D.P.S. Act against the accused petitioners and two others, vide order, dated 24.05.2022. Thereafter, the learned Trial Court has examined 5

(five) prosecution witnesses, out of 8 (eight) witnesses. FSL report gave positive tests for cannabis (ganja). Both the accused petitioners are permanent residents under Lanka Police Station, Dist-Page No.# 3/4 Hojai, Assam. In view of above, this Court finds that further continuation of detention of the accused petitioners in the interest of the remaining part of trial is not required as there is no possibility of them fleeing from the course of justice. Having considered the evidence so far recorded in the case and so far the remaining evidence of PWs are concerned as well as considering the length of detention, this Court is of the considered opinion that despite the bar contained in Section 37 of the NDPS Act in granting bail in the matter involving commercial quantity of drugs, the accused petitioners may be granted the liberty of bail subject to stringent conditions. Accordingly, it is provided that the accused petitioners, named above, shall be released on bail of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh) each only with 02(two) sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge (NDPS Act), Karbi Anglong, Diphu subject to the following conditions:

i) That the accused petitioners shall continue to appear before the learned trial Court on all dates to be fixed from time to time till the case is disposed of;

ii) That the accused petitioners shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any of the remaining prosecution witness who are acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Court;

iii) That the accused petitioners shall refrain from committing any similar offences in future of which they are accused of commission; and

iv) That one of the two sureties must be a government servant subject to verification of the relevant documents and the learned Court below shall return the aforesaid documents after such verification retaining legible scanned copy thereof on record. Be it mentioned that no observation made in course of this bail order shall have any Page No.# 4/4 bearing in the judicial discretion of the learned trial Court. Breach of any of the above condition shall render cancellation of the bail in accordance with law. This disposes of the bail application. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010108742023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oBailoAppln./2140/2023o SIRAJoULoISLAMo@oSIRAJULoISLAMoANDoANRo S/OoABDULoRAHMANo@oLToABDULoRAHMANo R/OoLANKAPATTY,oWARDoNO.o4,o LANKAo(MB),o P.S.oLANKAo DIST.oHOJAI,oASSAMo PIN-o782446 2:oMRoNIRMALoGHOSH oS/OoRUHINIoGHOSHo@oROHINIoGHOSHo R/OoLANKAPATTY oWARDoNO.o4 o LANKAo(MB) o P.S.oLANKAo DIST.oHOJAI oASSAMo PIN-o78244o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMo REP.oBYoTHEoPP,oASSAM AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oNoKoMURRYo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oPP,oASSAMoo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page No.# 2/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AJIT BORTHAKUR