Citing recent SC verdict, more drugs case accused get bail in HC

The accused claimed he was falsely implicated in the case. The bail order passed by a single-judge bench of the High Court on September 7 mentioned that the August 16 apex court decision could be applied to the case and gave him bail. The accused had been earlier denied bail by the trial court in June 2017 and had been in jail since then.

The impact of the apex court verdict on the ongoing cases in the courts has been visible since day one. Advocate General Atul Nanda described it a “serious issue” and said the State is aware of the situation. “I am personally looking into the matter”.

Just two days after the verdict by the apex court, on August 18, the High Court acquitted three persons from Haryana who had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2007. Their counsel cited the Supreme Court judgment to plead that the accused deserved benefit since the complainant police officer was investigating a case based his own complaint.

In another case, the High Court, while allowing the bail plea of an accused from Punjab who had been arrested with 60 Buprenorphine injections in 2017, remarked, “Moreover, since the arresting officer himself investigated the case, therefore, in terms of judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in 2018 AIR (SC) 3853 – Mohan Lal vs. State of Punjab, the investigation itself stands vitiated. Therefore, it cannot be said that the recovery is duly effected from the petitioner and that the petitioner is involved in the present case.”

However, the High Court has also turned down the bail plea in one case, even though the lawyer cited the Supreme Court verdict. In the case from Jalandhar where the accused has been in prison since September 2017, the HC said there is no doubt that the officer who recovered the drugs also investigated the case, but further noted that the police had duly followed the NDPS law by making the search in the presence of a gazetted officer.

In view of the wide ramifications of the apex court verdict, the HC has already ordered the state governments of Punjab and Haryana and the Chandigarh administration to apprise the police officials regarding the verdict to avoid any negative impact in the drugs case.

More and more lawyers at the High Court are now citing the Mohan Lal verdict to plead benefit to the accused in their cases. “The judgment is very important and a step in the right direction to avoid false implication of people. I am representing 7-8 persons at present before the High Court and in all cases the investigating officer and complainant are same. The Supreme Court has laid down the law and clarified the very basic principle. It is a valid ground to seek benefit,” said advocate IPS Kohli.

The impact of the judgment is not being felt only in Punjab and Haryana alone, and not just for NDPS cases. On August 29, The Calcutta High Court acquitted a person who had been convicted under Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The appeal was allowed solely on the law laid down by Supreme Court in the Mohan Lal case.