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Judgment
G. Satapathy, J.
This is a bail application U/S.483 of BNSS by the petitioner for grant of bail in connection with Special Task Force Bhubaneswar PS Case No.32 of 2023 corresponding to SC Case No.43 of 2023 pending in the Court of learned Dist. & Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, Keonjhar for commission of offences punishable under Sections 21(c) of NDPS Act, on the main allegation of possessing 1Kg and 075Grams of Brown Sugar.
Heard Mr. Partha Sarathi Das, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. S.C. Pradhan, learned Addl. PP in the matter and perused the record.
No doubt, the learned counsel for the petitioner has taken the plea of long custody of the petitioner as a ground for grant of bail to him, but the petitioner has allegedly been found in possession of 1Kg 075Grams of Brown Sugar which is well above the commercial quantity and he is, thereby, required to satisfy the conditions of Sec.37 of NDPS Act, which prescribes that no person accused of offence under NDPS Act involving commercial quantity shall be released on bail; where the public prosecutor opposes such bail application, unless the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence and he is unlikely to commit offence while on bail. In the context of long custody, this Court considers it proper to refer to the decision in State of Punjab vrs. Sukhwinder Singh @ Gora; 2026 Live Law(SC) 421, wherein the Apex Court has held thus:-
“10.Xx xx xxx The right to speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution is undoubtedly a valuable constitutional guarantee; but in the context of a special statute such as the NDPS Act dealing with commercial quantity, that right has to be read alongside, and not in displacement of the mandate of Sec.37 of NDPS Act.”
No doubt the petitioner has undergone incarceration for some period, but that is not enough to grant him bail; unless he satisfies the conditions of Sec.37 of NDPS Act. On consideration of the materials placed on record together with the seizure of 1Kg 075Grams of Brown Sugar allegedly from the petitioner, this Court does not consider the petitioner to have satisfied the conditions of Sec.37 of NDPS Act, which is sine qua non for grant of bail to an accused for commission of offence under NDPS Act involving commercial quantity.
Hence, the bail application of the petitioner stands rejected. Accordingly, the BLAPL stands disposed of. A soft copy of this judgment may immediately be transmitted to the Court concerned.