AI Structured Summary
Not yet generated for this judgment
Judgment
C.S.Dias, J
The application is filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, by the sole accused in Crime No.541/2024 of the Koratty Police Station, Thrissur, which is registered against him, for allegedly committing the offence punishable under Section 22(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The petitioner was arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 20.5.2024.
The crux of the prosecution case is that: on 20.05.2024, at around 08.30 hours, the accused was found in conscious possession of 14.300 grams of MDMA, which was meant for sale. The accused was arrested on the spot and remanded to judicial custody. Thus, the accused has committed the above offence.
Heard; Sri. Nireesh Mathew, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Smt. Seetha S., the learned Senior Public Prosecutor.
The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is totally innocent of the accusations leveled against him. He has been falsely implicated in the crime. There is no material to substantiate that the petitioner has committed the offence. The petitioner has reliably learnt that the contraband article allegedly seized from him is 'methamphetamine' and not 'MDMA'. Taking into consideration The said aspect, this Court has already enlarged the petitioner on interim bail by the order dated 05.07.2024. Therefore, the said order may be made absolute.
The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the application. She submitted that if the petitioner is let off on bail, there is every likelihood of him committing a similar offence. Nonetheless, she made available the chemical analysis report dated 18.07.2024 issued by the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Thrissur, which substantiates that the contraband article is 'methamphetamine' and not 'MDMA' as alleged by the prosecution. She also did not dispute the fact that the petitioner was enlarged on interim bail by order dated 05.07.2024.
The prosecution case against the petitioner is that, he was found in conscious possession of 14.300 grams of MDMA. Due to the non-production of the chemical analysis report, by order dated 05.07.2024, this Court enlarged the petitioner on interim bail as per the mandate of Rule 14 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Seizure, Storage, Sampling, and Disposal) Rules, 2022. Today, when the application was taken up for consideration, the learned Public Prosecutor has made available the chemical analysis report referred to above, which again substantiates the fact the contraband involved in the case is 'methamphetamine' and not 'MDMA'. Therefore, the contraband involved in the case is of an intermediate quantity.
On an overall consideration of the facts, the rival submissions made across the Bar, and the materials placed on record, particularly on considering the fact that the contraband involved in the case is 'methamphetamine', and that this Court has already enlarged the petitioner on interim bail, as per order dated 05.07.2024, I am of the firm view that the interim order referred to above is to be made absolute. Hence, the interim order dated 05.07.2024 is made absolute. The petitioner shall abide by the conditions imposed in the order dated 05.07.2024.