The Supreme Court granted bail to the petitioner, accused in a narcotics case, emphasizing the lengthy pre-trial detention, absence of criminal antecedents, and slow progress of trial. The case arises out of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s (Jodhpur Bench) refusal of bail to the petitioner who was awaiting trial for serious offences under the Narcotics, Drugs, and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta perused the case record and took particular note of three facts: (i) the petitioner had already spent more than three years in jail as an undertrial prisoner; (ii) there were no prior criminal record or antecedents; and (iii) the trial was proceeding slowly, with only 4 out of 30 witnesses examined so far. Finding these factors compelling, especially in the absence of objectionable conduct by the accused during the period of incarceration, the Court invoked its constitutional power to protect against indefinite pretrial detention.
The bench directed that the petitioner be released on bail on terms to be fixed by the trial court, with the added safeguard that if the petitioner or their counsel causes undue delay in the trial, the State or trial court may seek recall of this bail order from the Court.
The Special Leave Petition and pending applications were disposed of accordingly.
Appearances:
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Sanchar Anand, Adv. ; Mr. Nishant Bishnoi, AOR; Mr. Raghav Khanna, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv.; Mr. Vinay Kumar Singh, Adv.; Mr. Ashzad Mubarak, Adv.; Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR