High CourtsSingle Bench(2026) 10 CHH CK 1942

Smt. Pooja Devi Sonkar vs State Of Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh High Court, Bilaspur · Decided on 13 October 2026

HON’BLE JUDGES
Rakesh Mohan Pandey, J
RESULT
Dismissed
CASE NUMBER
MCRC No. 9108 of 2026

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Judgment

13 paragraphs · 650 words
1.

This application under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has been filed by the applicant for grant of regular bail, who has been arrested in connection with Crime No. 501/2026 registered at Police Station Tikrapara, Raipur (C.G.) for offences punishable under Sections 20(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, NDPS Act).

2.

The prosecution story in brief, is that Police Station concerned received secret information from the informant and on the basis of said information, a raid was conducted wherein 16.434 kgs Ganja was recovered from the possession of the present applicant. Thereafter, the crime has been registered against the applicant.

3.

Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and he has falsely been implicated in this case and she is lady. He further submits that the applicant has 6 criminal antecedents and the same has been duly explained in Part-D (Criminal Antecedents) of the present bail application. He also submits that charge-sheet has been filed before the competent Court and the applicant is in jail since 06.06.2026 and the trial is likely to take some time for its conclusion, therefore, he prays for grant of bail.

4.

On the other hand, learned State Counsel opposes the bail application and submits that, in the present case, the charge-sheet has been filed before the competent Court and 16.434 kg of ganja was seized from the possession of the present applicant. He further submits that the applicant has six criminal antecedents, out of which five are under the Excise Act and one is under the Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, which indicates that she is a habitual offender. Hence, he prays for rejection of the bail application.

5.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case diary.

6.

In the present bail application, the applicant has disclosed six criminal antecedents, all of which are pending before the Trial Court. The details of the criminal antecedents are as follows:

S. Crime No. Police Offences Status No. and Year Station 1. 724/2020 Rajghat, Sections 272 IPC and 60 of the Pending Gorakhpur Uttar Pradesh Excise Act before the S. Crime No. Police Offences Status No. and Year Station (U.P.) Trial Court Rajghat, Pending Section 60 of the Uttar Pradesh 2. 284/2021 Gorakhpur before the Excise Act (U.P.) Trial Court Rajghat, Pending Section 60 of the Uttar Pradesh 3. 66/2021 Gorakhpur before the Excise Act (U.P.) Trial Court Charge-Rajghat, Section 60 of the Uttar Pradesh sheet has 4. 247/2022 Gorakhpur Excise Act not been (U.P.) filed Rajghat, Sections 60 of the Uttar Pradesh Pending 5. 484/2023 Gorakhpur Excise Act, 272 IPC and 21 of the before the (U.P.) NDPS Act Trial Court Sections 2(b)(i), 2(b)(iii), 2(b)(xi) Rajghat, Pending and 3(1) of the Uttar Pradesh 6. 92/2025 Gorakhpur before the Gangsters and Anti-Social (U.P.) trial Court Activities (Prevention) Act

7.

Nonetheless, the primary objectives of examining an accused person's criminal antecedents during bail proceedings are:

•

To assess the likelihood of compliance with bail conditions and ensure the accused will not flee or jump bail;

•

To determine whether there is a habitual pattern of committing similar or grave offenses; and

•

To evaluate the risk of evidence tampering, obstruction of the ongoing investigation, or witness intimidation.

The existence of six pending criminal antecedents indicates a persistent pattern of offending and raises a serious apprehension that the applicant may repeat similar offences if enlarged on bail.

8.

Also in light of the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in Deepak Yadav v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Another, reported in (2022) 8 SCC 559, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court had cancelled the bail granted to the accused therein on the ground that the accused had previous antecedents, this Court is not inclined to extend the benefit of bail to the applicant. Accordingly, the instant bail applications are rejected.