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Judgment
This is the second application filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS), seeking regular bail.
The applicants are the accused Nos.1 and 2 in Crime No.427/2026 of Pattambi Police Station, Palakkad District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)(C) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, NDPS Act).
The prosecution case, in short, is that on 14.05.2026 at 23.41 hours, the police party detected that the applicants illegally possessed 22.570 kilograms of Ganja at a place called the Civil Station at Pattambi in contravention of the NDPS Act and Rules and thereby committed the aforesaid offences.
I have heard Smt.Fathima Sulfath N.B., the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri.Thomas Sabu Vadakekut, the learned Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.
The learned counsel appearing for the applicants submitted that the requirement of informing the arrested person of the grounds of arrest is mandatory under Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 47 of the BNSS and inasmuch as the applicants were not furnished with the grounds of arrest, their arrest was illegal and they are liable to be released on bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that all legal formalities were complied with in accordance with Chapter V of the BNSS at the time of the arrest of the applicants. It is further submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicants and hence they are not entitled to bail at this stage.
The applicants had on an earlier occasion filed a bail application before this Court as B.A.No.3883 of 2026 on the ground that the grounds of arrest were not communicated to the applicants in terms of Sections 47 and 48 of the BNSS. The said bail application was dismissed as per Annexure - A4 order, holding that the grounds for arrest were duly communicated to the applicants and their relative in terms of Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India as well as Sections 47 and 48 of the BNSS. The applicants cannot reagitate the said ground again. The bail application is, accordingly, dismissed.