The Petitioner caught in the act of concealing the controlled substances in his residence, the Petition for bail deserves to be and is accordingly disposed of: The High Court of Sikkim
The Petitioner was caught in the act of concealing the controlled substances in one room of his residence, where the Police reached and also considering that the quantity seized is a commercial quantity viz. 64 packets of Spasmodon capsules; another 13 packets of Spasmodon capsules and 26 packets of Nitrosun-10 tablets. In the Hon’ble High Court of Sikkim led through the single-bench by Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai in the matters of Durga Gupta @Golu v. State Of Sikkim[BAIL APPLN./11/2021] The facts of the case are the Applicant herein, aged about 38 years, was arrested under Sections 9 (1)(c) of the Sikkim Anti-Drugs Act, 2006 (SADA, 2006) and Sections 22(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act, 1985) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Since then he has been in Judicial Custody. The Petitioners submitted that, the Petitioner has been falsely implicated in the instant matter by his elder brother, one Krishna Gupta, in connivance with the Police party conducting the search and seizure due to the acrimonious relations that he has with his elder brother. That, in fact, the premises that the Petitioner is residing in is the Fifth Floor of the seven storeyed building, whereas the controlled substances were recovered from the Sixth Floor of the building which is the residential premises of his elder brother and his family. That, neither the FIR nor the Seizure Memo reflect the seizure as having been made from his residential premises. That, the elder brother of the Petitioner runs a Medical Store and has a Licence for procuring medicines and therefore collected the controlled substances and with the assistance of the Police and one Yesar Arfat, implicated him falsely in the instant matter. That, the Petitioner was also threatened by the Police at the Sadar Police Station that he would be incarcerated for a long time on account of the various Complaints lodged by his elder brother before the Police Station. Besides, he has no criminal antecedents and being the only bread winner of his family, his incarceration would adversely affect his family. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that the Petitioner has been taking advantage of his License to run a Medical Store and has been obtaining medicines that are not permitted by the Licence. That, the Petitioner is not only a consumer of the controlled substances but the investigation has led to the revelation that he is also a supplier and seller of such controlled substances. That, the Petitioner was caught in the act of concealing the controlled substances when the Police reached his residence for search and seizure, hence there is no doubt that the search and seizure were made from his residence, as against the submissions put forth by the Petitioners. Besides, the articles seized were in commercial quantity and hence the Petition for bail deserves to be rejected. The court concludes “In view of the facts and circumstances placed before me today and in consideration of the fact that at this juncture it has been pointed out that the Petitioner was caught in the act of concealing the controlled substances in one room of his residence, where the Police reached and also considering that the quantity seized is a commercial quantity viz. 64 packets of Spasmodon capsules (total 6400 capsules); another 13 packets of Spasmodon capsules (total 1300 capsules) and 26 packets of Nitrosun-10 tablets (total 2600 tablets), the Petition for bail deserves to be and is accordingly rejected and disposed of.”
HIGH COURT OF SIKKIM Record of Proceedings Virtual Court No.2 Bail Appln. No.121 DURGA GUPTA @ GOLU APPLICANT STATE OF SIKKIM RESPONDENT Date: 02.09.2021 For Applicant For Respondent 1. THE HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE MEENAKSHI MADAN RAI A.C.J. Namgyal Mr. S.K. Chettri Additional Public Prosecutor. S.I. Naresh Chhetri I.O. of the O R D E RThe Applicant herein aged about 38 years was arrested by the Sadar Police Station on 26.06.2021 in connection with Sadar Police Station Case No.79 of 2021 of the same date under Sections 9 14 of the Sikkim Anti Drugs Act 2006 SADA 2006) and Sections 22(b) 27 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code 1860. Since then he has been in Judicial Custody. 2. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the Petitioner had filed two separate Bail Applications before the Court of the Learned Special Judge SADA 2006 East Sikkim at Gangtok being Crl. Misc. Case Bail No.74 of 2021 and the Court of the Learned Special Judge NDPS Act 1985 East Sikkim at Gangtok being Criminal Misc. Case (Bail) No.22 of 2021. Both the Applications were rejected vide Orders dated 06.08.2021 and Page | 1 HIGH COURT OF SIKKIM Record of Proceedings Virtual Court No.2 09.08.2021 respectively. That the Petitioner has been falsely implicated in the instant matter by his elder brother one Krishna Gupta in connivance with the Police party conducting the search and seizure due to the acrimonious relations that he has with his elder brother. That in fact the premises that the Petitioner is residing in is the Fifth Floor of the seven storeyed building whereas the controlled substances were recovered from the Sixth Floor of the building which is the residential premises of his elder brother and his family. That neither the FIR nor the Seizure Memo reflect the seizure as having been made from his residential premises. That the elder brother of the Petitioner runs a Medical Store and has a Licence for procuring medicines and therefore collected the controlled substances and with the assistance of the Police and one Yesar Arfat implicated him falsely in the instant matter. That the Petitioner was also threatened by the Police at the Sadar Police Station that he would be incarcerated for a long time on account of the various Complaints lodged by his elder brother before the Police Station. That his elder brother in fact shares acrimonious relations not only with him but also with his married elder sister. That Yesar Arfat whose name is reflected in the FIR and who informed the Police that he had procured the controlled substances from the Petitioner is the husband of an employee in the Medical Shop of his elder brother and hence there is every doubt that he has also connived with the elder brother of the Petitioner. That the Petitioner has recently been married and at the time of his arrest it was only eight days since his marriage. Besides he has no criminal Page | 2 HIGH COURT OF SIKKIM Record of Proceedings Virtual Court No.2 antecedents and being the only bread winner of his family his incarceration would adversely affect his family. That should the Petitioner be enlarged on bail he will not abscond nor tamper with the Prosecution Witnesses and he will appear before the Court on each and every date fixed for hearing. That he is also willing to abide by any terms and conditions imposed by this Court. 3. Repelling the arguments of Learned Counsel for the Petitioner Learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that the Petitioner has been taking advantage of his License to run a Medical Store and has been obtaining medicines which are not permitted by the Licence. That the Petitioner is not only a consumer of the controlled substances but investigation has led to the revelation that he is also a supplier and seller of such controlled substances. That the Petitioner was caught in the act of concealing the controlled substances when the Police reached his residence for search and seizure hence there is no doubt that the search and seizure was made from his residence as against the submissions put forth by Learned Counsel for the Petitioner. Besides the articles seized were in commercial quantity and hence the Petition for bail deserves to 4. I have heard Learned Counsel for the parties at length and have duly perused all the documents furnished before be rejected. the Court. 5. In view of the facts and circumstances placed before me today and in consideration of the fact that at this juncture it has been pointed out that the Petitioner was caught in the act of Page | 3 HIGH COURT OF SIKKIM Record of Proceedings Virtual Court No.2 concealing the controlled substances in one room of his residence where the Police reached and also considering that the quantity seized is a commercial quantity viz. 64 packets of Spasmodon capsules another 13 packets of Spasmodon capsules and 26 packets of Nitrosun 10 tabletsthe Petition for bail deserves to be and is accordingly rejected and disposed of. 6. I hasten to add that the observations made hereinabove will have no consequences on the merits of the matter which shall be considered at the time of trial. The Learned Trial Court shall consider the evidence placed by the Prosecution at the time of trial and reach an independent finding unhindered by the observations made by this Court in this Order. 7. Copy of this Order be forwarded to the Learned Trial Court for information. Acting Chief Justice Page | 4 