Karanjit Singh v. State of Punjab

ANOOP CHITKARA, J. FIR No. Dated Police Sta/on Sec/ons 122 22.06.2024 Ajnala, Amritsar 21-B/25/27-A/29 of NDPS Act and 25 of Arms Act

¶1The pettoner incarcerated in the FIR captoned above had come up before this Court under Secton 483 of Bharatya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking regular bail.

¶2As per paragraph 16 of the bail applicaton, the accused has no criminal antecedents.

¶3The facts and allegatons are being taken from the status report filed by the State, which reads as follows: "2. That the brief and relevant facts of the case are that the aforesaid FIR No. 122 dated 22.06.2024 was registered at the Police Sta!on Ajnala, Amritsar (Rural), on the basis of a 'Ruqa' sent by ASI Kanwaljit Singh men!oning therein that Akash Seth alias Raghu, Karanjit Singh (present Pe!!oner) and Sukhdeep Singh were apprehended by him in the area of Ajnala on the basis of secret informa!on received during the patrolling and search of an!-social elements and during the search of the box carried by Akash Seth, 5 pistols of 30 bore along with 10 magazines, one glock 9MM without magazine were recovered. The detailed facts men!oned in the aforesaid Ruqa have been a6ached with the pe!!on as order/judgment. 1 Annexure P-1, FIR No. 122/2024 and its translated version, as in the instant case, which may kindly be read as part of the present paragraph as same are not repeated here for the sake of brevity.

¶3That a8er the registra!on of the FIR, the inves!ga!on was commenced by ASI Kanwaljit Singh, who prepared a rough site plan and recorded the statement of the witnesses.

¶4That during the custodial interroga!on, on 22.06.2024, the co-accused Akash suffered a disclosure statement, disclosing therein that Bholu, who was friend of his cousin brother Sanjam, was involved in procuring heroin from Pakistan also became his friend and Sanjam was involved in illegal business of weapons and drugs. He further disclosed that he used to reside at a PG at Amritsar and used to work for Bholu and ten days back, one unknown accomplice of Bholu had given him 250 grams of heroin. He further disclosed that he had consumed some heroin and sold the remaining to some customers and he has hidden the remaining heroin at his PG room. On the basis of the aforesaid disclosure statement of the co-accused Akash, sec!on 21, 25 and 29 of NDPS Act were added vide GD No.38 dated 22.06.2024."

¶4The Investgator claims to have complied with all the statutory requirements of the NDPS Act, 1985, and CrPC, 1973.

¶5Counsel for the pettoner seeks bail on the grounds of parity with co-accused Sukhdeep Singh @ Bablu, who was granted bail by this Court vide order dated 28.11.2024 passed in CRM-M-47971-2024. The pettoner's counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent conditons and contends that further pre-trial incarceraton would cause an irreversible injustce to the pettoner and his family.

¶6The State's counsel opposes bail and refers to the status report.

¶7It would be appropriate to refer to the following portons of the status report, which read as follows: "5. That 200 grams of heroin was recovered at the instance of the co-accused Akash, which was taken into police possession vide recovery memo dated 22.06.2024 by ASI Harjinder Singh as the inves!ga!ng officer who ini!ally conducted the inves!ga!on was a local rank, who was not competent for inves!ga!on in NDPS cases.

¶6That during the custodial interroga!on, the co-accused Akash suffered an another disclosure statement dated 24.06.2024 that Bholu used to give order/judgment. 2 him commission for supplying illegal drugs and weapons and about 10/15 days ago, the co-accused Bholu gave him Rs. 5 Lakh, out of which he has made one gold chain and spent some money. A total of Rs. 3,40,300/- was recovered at the instance of the co-accused Akash along with one gold chain, which was taken into police possession vide recovery memo dated

24.06.2024.

¶7That during the custodial interroga!on, the present Pe!!oner-Accused suffered a disclosure statement dated 26.06.2024, disclosing therein that he had hidden Rs.47,000 of drug money in his almirah, which was recovered at his instance from his house pursuant to his disclosure statement dated 26.06.2024. Role of the pe##oner

¶8That the pe!!oner is an ac!ve member of the gang consis!ng of co-accused persons Akash Sharma, Sukhdeep Singh and Sanjam, who is involved in smuggling of heroin and weapons on asking of co-accused Bholu. Evidence against the pe##oner

¶9That the present Pe!!oner-Accused and other co-accused Sukhdeep Singh and Akash were arrested with the recovery of 5 pistols of 30 bore along with 10 magazines, one glock 9MM without magazine and that Rs.47,000/- drug money was recovered at his instance pursuant to his disclosure statement." REASONING:

¶8The quantty allegedly involved in this case is commercial. Given this, the rigors of S. 37 of the NDPS Act apply in the present case. The pettoner must satsfy the twin conditons put in place by the Legislature under Secton 37 of the NDPS Act.

¶9Initally when the police party had nabbed the pettoner along with co-accused Sukhdeep Singh and Akash, they had recovered five pistols of 30 bore, 10 magazines and one glock 9 MM from joint possession of pettoner, co-accused Sukhdeep Singh and Akash Seth @ Raghu. Later on, 200 grams of heroin was recovered at the instance of co-accused Akash.

¶10Given above, there is prima facie evidence against the pettoner regarding recovery of weapons but the evidence regarding recovery of heroin was from co-accused Akash Seth @ Raghu and is not associated to pettoner. In additon, as per paragraph 8 of the bail petton, the pettoner has been in custody since 22.06.2024. As per the same, the pettoner's total custody in this FIR is around 7½ months. Given the penal order/judgment. 3 provisions invoked viz-a-viz pre-trial custody, coupled with the primafacie analysis of the nature of allegatons, and the other factors peculiar to this case, there would be no justfiability for further pre-trial incarceraton at this stage.

¶11Without commentng on the case's merits, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, and for the reasons mentoned above, the pettoner makes a case for bail.

¶12Given above, provided the pettoner is not required in any other case, the pettoner shall be released on bail in the FIR captoned above subject to furnishing bonds to the satsfacton of the concerned Court and due to unavailability before any nearest Ilaqa Magistrate/duty Magistrate. Before acceptng the surety, the concerned Court must be satsfied that if the accused fails to appear, such surety can produce the accused.

¶13While furnishing a personal bond, the pettoner shall menton the following personal identficaton details:

¶1AADHAR number

¶2Passport number (If available) and when the aHestng officer/court considers it appropriate or considers the accused a flight risk.

¶3Mobile number (If available)

¶4E-Mail id (If available)

¶14This order is subject to the pettoner's complying with the following terms.

¶15The pettoner shall abide by all statutory bond conditons and appear before the concerned Court(s) on all dates. The pettoner shall not tamper with the evidence, influence, browbeat, pressurize, induce, threaten, or promise, directly or indirectly, any witnesses, Police officials, or any other person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case or dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Police or the Court.

¶16Given the background of allegatons against the pettoner, it becomes paramount to protect the members of society, detecton staff and incapacitatng the accused would be one of the primary optons untl the filing of the closure report or discharge, or acquiHal. Consequently, it would be appropriate to restrict the possession of firearms. [This restricton is being imposed based on the preponderance of the evidence of probability and not of evidence of certainty, i.e., beyond a reasonable doubt; and as such, it is not to be construed as an intermediate sancton]. Given the nature of the allegatons and the other circumstances peculiar to this case, the pettoner shall surrender all weapons, firearms, and ammuniton, if any, along with the arms license toJYOTI order/judgment. 4 the concerned authority within fiNeen days of release from prison and inform the Investgator of the compliance. However, subject to the Indian Arms Act, 1959, the pettoner shall be enttled to renew and reclaim them in case of acquiHal in this case, provided otherwise permissible under the concerned rules. Restrictng firearms would instll confidence in the victm(s), their families, and society; it would also restrain the accused from influencing the witnesses and repeatng the offense.

¶17The conditons mentoned above imposed by this court are to endeavor to reform and ensure the accused does not repeat the offense and also to block the menace of drug abuse. In Mohammed Zubair v. State of NCT of Delhi, 2022:INSC:735 [Para 28], Writ Petton (Criminal) No 279 of 2022, Para 29, decided on July 20, 2022, A Three-Judge bench of Hon'ble Supreme Court holds that "The bail conditons imposed by the Court must not only have a nexus to the purpose that they seek to serve but must also be proportonal to the purpose of imposing them. The courts, while imposing bail conditons must balance the liberty of the accused and the necessity of a fair trial. While doing so, conditons that would result in the deprivaton of rights and libertes must be eschewed."

¶18In Md. Tajiur Rahaman v. The State of West Bengal, decided on 08-Nov-2024, SLP

(Crl) 12225-2024, Hon'ble Supreme Court holds in Para 7, "It goes without saying that if the pettoner is found involved in such like offence in future, the concession of bail granted to him today will liable to be withdrawn and the pettoner is bound to face the necessary consequences."

¶19This bail is condi#onal, and the founda#onal condi#on is that if the pe##oner indulges in any non-bailable offense, the State shall file an applica#on for cancella#on of this bail before the Trial Court, which shall be at liberty to cancel this bail.

¶20The concerned trial court is authorized to delete, modify, or relax any of the above conditons and shall be competent to do so in accordance with the law.

¶21Any observaton made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.

¶22A certfied copy of this order would not be needed for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the Pettoner can download this order along with case status from the official web page of this Court and aHest it to be a true copy. If the aHestng officer wants to verify its authentcity, such an officer can also verify its authentcity and may download and use the downloaded copy for aHestng bonds. order/judgment. 5

¶23Pe//on allowed in terms mentoned above. All pending applicatons, if any, stand disposed of. (ANOOP CHITKARA) JUDGE

20.02.2025 Jyot-II Whether reportable: No. order/judgment. 6

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 04.02.2025 Pronounced on: 20.02.2025 Karanjit Singh ...Pettoner Versus State of Punjab …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Rishu Mahajan, Advocate for the pettoner. Mr. Akshay Kumar, A.A.G., Punjab. ****