High Court grants bail to Kupwara man in alleged drug peddling case
Srinagar, Jul 6: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has granted bail to a man from Kupwara after it noted that there was an ex-facie inherent contradiction in the mention of the offence in the FIR on the basis of which the man was arrested following disclosure of a co-accused who had been arrested along with nearly 8-10 grams of alleged brown sugar.
According to prosecution, the case (FIR No. 38 of 2022) was registered when a police party during checking on July 11, 2022 at Chaeshma, Tregam caught a motorcyclist identified as Asif Bashir and pillion rider Mehtab Ahmad Malik. A brown sugar of 8 -10 grams was alleged to have been recovered from the possession of the motorcyclist upon search whereas the pillion rider was found in no possession or carrying such contraband.
The investigation that proceeded purportedly on Asif’s inputs, led to an alleged disclosure that the alleged contraband item was purchased by him from Muneer Ahmad Khan. Consequently, Khan was arrested on July 24, 2022 and ever since he had been in custody, continually. After hearing the prosecution through its counsel and accused Khan through his counsel, Arzaan Ahmad Dar, a bench of Justice Rahul Bharti granted bail to the accused. “Registration of the FIR in the case makes a very curious reading which is a pointer to the fact that the real genesis of the case perhaps is not the one as came to be referred in the FIR in booking the accused No.1-Asif Bashir at first instance,” the bench said. The court observed that the section 8(a) of the NDPS Act, 1985 read with its section 21 was mentioned in the FIR initially and not section 8(c).
“Section 8(a) of the NDPS Act, 1985 is that ‘no person shall cultivate any coca plant or gather any portion of coca plant.’ By no stretch of imagination, the alleged mention of offence can relate to the alleged act of omission or commission on the part of accused No.1-Asif Bashir being found in alleged possession of 8-10 grams of Brown Sugar upon being intercepted by the Naka party,” the court said.
“This ex-facie inherent contradiction in the mention of the offence in the FIR itself may serve to be a pointer as to whether the Police came up with true version of facts in the matter of registration of the FIR or it is upon an adulterated version that the FIR came to be registered which adulteration of facts continued in booking the petitioner (Muneer) followed by two other accused persons by reference to the alleged involvement of prime accused No.1- Asif Bashir.” The Court granted bail to Muneer subject to furnishing of two bail bonds, personal as well as surety, to an amount of Rs 5 lakh each subject to such other terms and conditions as may be settled by the trial court of Principal Sessions Judge, Kupwara within a period of seven days. “One of the conditions to be incorporated by the court of learned Principal Sessions Judge, Kupwara in its order setting terms and conditions of bail to be that in case the petitioner is found involved/implicated in a fresh case involving commission of offences under NDPS Act, 1985, then the Prosecution shall be entitled to seek cancellation of bail against the petitioner hereby granted,” the court said.
