Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 7: High Court today denied bail to a man in a drug trafficking case and observed that the accused is part of a larger conspiracy.
The accused-Tufail Ahmad Chota was granted bail by the trial court and thereafter his bail was cancelled with the direction to surrender before the concerned Police Station.
He has challenged the order of cancellation of his bail and Justice Sanjay Dhar said that in a criminal case when a graver offence is added, the accused who is on bail has an option of surrendering before the court and apply for bail for newly added offence or even the investigating agency.
In addition, court said, the accused of a graver offence, has an option to proceed to arrest and before doing so, it need to obtain an order of arrest against the accused from the court that had granted the bail.
“…the Court in exercise of its powers under Section 437(5) and 439(2) of the Cr. P. C has the jurisdiction to direct the person already granted bail to be arrested on addition of a graver offence after cancellation of his bail”, Justice Dhar recorded.
Court said the petitioner-Chota who was on bail, has been charged for a graver offence under Section 27-A of the NDPS Act and he has also been found to be a part of a larger criminal conspiracy as a consequence whereof he has been charged under Section 29 of the NDPS Act.
The court on cancelling the bail of the accused said that the trial court has been rightly pointed as the total quantity of the mixture of drugs that have been recovered from all the accused who are part of the larger conspiracy, the quantity of psychotropic substance recovered falls within the category of commercial quantity.
“With the coming into play of provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act, the petitioner-accused, in order to succeed in an application for grant of bail, has to satisfy the court that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence”, reads the judgment.
Court added that there is sufficient material on record to, prima facie, suggest that the petitioner-accused has committed the offence under Section 27-A of the NDPS Act and that he is part of a conspiracy whereby commercial quantity of psychotropic substance has been recovered from the possession of the accused. Therefore, the petitioner has been unable to carve out a case for grant of bail in his favour.
“The trial court, while cancelling bail of the petitioner, directed him to surrender before the SHO concerned or in the alternative to arrest him and send him to judicial custody, which cannot be termed to be either illegal or improper”, Court added.
Court has held the jurisdiction exercised by the trial court under Section 439(2) of the Cr. P. C, in the instant case, is based on well-recognized principles of law and the same cannot be interfered with in exercise of revisional jurisdiction of this Court.
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