MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted bail to the man caught with 24 kg of high-quality hashish, a potent form of cannabis, while returning from a family trip to Kashmir, citing non-compliance of statutory provisions of the Narcotics Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the undertrial’s prolonged incarceration.
Bandu Dagadu Udanshive was arrested after Dahisar police seized 8 kg of hashish from his possession and an additional 16 kg from the cavities in the door and trunk of the car he was travelling in with his family. Besides Udanshive, his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and a child were also in the Santro when it was intercepted by the police at the Dahisar check post on October 24, 2021, after a tip-off.
Following this, Udanshive was arraigned as an accused under provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, for possession and trafficking of commercial quantities of drugs.
Advocate Anil G. Lalla, representing Udanshive, highlighted the non-compliance of statutory provisions under the NDPS Act, stating that the officers in the police station did not record the information, nor did they forward it to their superior officers. He urged the court to grant bail to Udanshive, citing his prolonged incarceration.
Additional public prosecutor AA Naik strongly opposed the bail, stating that “the applicant has not undergone more than half of the punishment which the offences entail”.
A single-judge bench of justice Milind Jadhav observed that no entry was made in the station diary by the station house officer (SHO) and even the communication addressed to the deputy commissioner of police by the assistant police officer (API) on October 24, 2021, does not advance the cause of the prosecution. “The clear non-compliance of the Act cannot be brushed aside lightly,” he said.
Section 42 of the NDPS Act mandates that the officer receiving information shall himself take down such information in writing and send a copy thereof to his immediate official superior.
Further, considering the extremely unlikeliness of the trial being concluded within a reasonable period, the court granted bail to Udanshive on furnishing a personal bond of one lakh with one or two sureties in the same amount.
“It is well recognised that a long period of incarceration, without a realistic prospect of conclusion of trial within a reasonable period, impairs the right of the accused to speedy trial, which is a facet of right to life guaranteed under the Constitution of India,” the court said.
