Mahbub Ullah @ Habib Ullah v. The State of Assam

ORDER

26.09.2023

Heard Mr. H.R. Choudhury, learned counsel for the accused petitioner. Also heard Mr. B.B. Gogoi, learned Addl. Public Prosecutor, Assam appearing for the State respondent. Page No.# 2/3 By this second petition under Section 439 Cr.P.C., the accused petitioner, namely Mahbub Ullah @Habib Ullah has prayed for grant of bail in connection with Special N.D.P.S. Case No.67/2021 pending in the Court of learned Addl. Sessions, Karimganj (corresponding to Patharkandi P.S. Case No.404/2021) under Sections 22(c)/29 of the N.D.P.S. Act, 1985. The earlier bail application of the accused petitioner being B.A. No.826/2022 was rejected by this Court vide order, dated 24.05.2022. The scanned copy of case record, as called for, is placed before the Court. The case relates to recovery and seizure of 20,000 tablets marked as 'WY' weighing 2.82 kg from the house of the accused petitioner. The FSL report shows that the sample of the seized tablets gave positive tests for Methamphetamine. It is noticed that the accused petitioner has been in judicial custody since

06.02.2022, that is, for 598 days. Perusal of the case record shows that the learned trial Court framed charges under Sections 22(c)/29 of the NDPS Act read with Section 34 of the IPC against the accused petitioner vide order, dated 20.03.2023. Thereafter, out of the listed 7(Seven) prosecution witnesses 2(two) PWs are already examined in the case. This Court is of the opinion that although there is bar under Section 37 of the N.D.P.S. Act in granting bail to accused in matters involving commercial quantity in view of the mandate under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, if the accused petitioner, who is a permanent resident under Patharkandi P.S., is released on bail the remaining part of the trial is unlikely to be hampered. Page No.# 3/3 Accordingly, it is provided that the accused petitioner, named above, shall be released on bail of Rs.1,00,000/-(Rupees One Lakh) only with two sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge (NDPS Act), Karimganj subject to the following conditions-

i) That the accused petitioner 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 petitioner shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to the remaining prosecution witnesses, who are acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the Court;

iii) That the accused petitioner shall refrain from committing any offences similar to the one of which he is accused of commission; and

iv) That out of the two sureties, one must be a government servant subject to verification of the relevant documents, if deemed necessary and after such verification, the learned Court below shall return the original documents retaining legible scanned copy thereof on record for future reference. This disposes of the bail application. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

Page No.# 1/3 GAHC010155692023 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : Bail Appln./2550/2023 MAHBUB ULLAH @ HABIB ULLAH S/O ABDUL KADIR VILL- PANIGHAT P.S. PATHARKANDI DIST. KARIMGANJ, ASSAM VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM REP. BY THE PP, ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR H R CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AJIT BORTHAKUR