Punjab-Haryana High Court
Lovepreet Singh vs State Of Punjab on 30 April, 2025
Author: Sandeep Moudgil
Bench: Sandeep Moudgil
Neutral Citation No:=2025:PHHC:056053
CRM-M-21343-2025 -1-
231
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-M-21343-2025
DECIDED ON: 30.04.2025
LOVEPREET SINGH
.....PETITIONER
VERSUS
STATE OF PUNJAB
.....RESPONDENT
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MOUDGIL
Present: Mr. G.S. Ghuman, Advocate
for the petitioner. (through Hybrid Mode).
Mr. Jaspal Singh Guru, AAG Punjab
SANDEEP MOUDGIL, J (ORAL)
1. Prayer
The jurisdiction of this Court has been invoked under Section 483
BNSS, 2023 seeking regular bail to the petitioner in case FIR No. 08, dated
17.01.2024 U/s 21,22-61- 85, 29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Act, 1985, P.S.- Dakha, District Ludhiana, Punjab
2. Facts
Facts as narrated in the FIR reads as under:-
“Officer Incharge, Police Station Dakha, Jai Hind, I, ASI alongwith
ASI Paramjit Singh No.684, CT Sandeep Singh No.395 and CT
Gurpinder Singh No.377 through private vehicle, which was being
driven by myself ASI, alongwith laptop printer were on patrolling
duty and checking of vehicles of suspected persons at main Chowk,
Mandi Mullanpur, then informant came near me, ASI and informed1 of 7
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that Chamkaur Singh son of Kulwinder Singh son of Dalip Singh and
alias Jassa son of Jagtar Singh son of Jagdev Singh, resident of
Rachin Police Station Sadar, Raikot and deal in sale of heroin and
narcotic tablets. Today they are coming towards Mullanpur City for
selling heroin and narcotics tables to their customers. If barricade
Rakba Road, New Dana Mandi, Mullanpur is installed, then from
above said Chamkaur Singh and Lovepreet Singh alias Jassa heroin
and narcotics tablets in large quantity can be recovered. The
information is confirmed and reliable. Selling of heroin and narcotics
tablets by Chamkaur Singh and Lovepreet Singh alias Jassa, offence
under Sections 21, 22, 61, 85 of NDPS Act is made out. Written
message for registration of FIR against Chamkaur Singh and
Lovepreet Singh alias Jassa through CT Gurpinder Singh No.377 is
sent to Police Station. Report to Inspecting Officer under Section 42
of NDPS Act has been given. After registration of FIR its number be
intimated. Intimation to District Control Room be given. Special
reports be issued. Inquiry Officer at the place of incident be deputed.
I, ASI, alongwith colleagues Police Official left for installing
barricade at the site as per information given. Jurisdiction Main
Chowk Mandi Mullanpur at 04.30 P.M. Sd/- Kuldeep Singh No.453
Police Station Dakha Dated 17.01.2023. On receipt of written
message FIR against the above said Chamkaur Singh and Lovepreet
Singh alias Jassa has been registered. Original written message
alongwith copy of FIR through CT Gurpinder Singh No.377 has been
sent to Inquiry Officer ASI Gursewak Singh No.237. Necessary
formalities are being got completed. After issue of special reports
have been sent to Senior Officers and Illaqa Magistate for
information through ASI Jagdev Singh No.231. Information to
District Control Room is being given.’
3. Contentions:
On behalf of the petitioner
The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has
been falsely implicated in the present case. He further contends that the alleged
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recovery of 220 intoxicating tablets was sent to the FSL, Ludhiana, and the FSL
report (Annexure P-2) appears to be inconclusive. Specifically, the report fails to
mention the quantity of Diacetylmorphine in Envelope No. 1, and similarly, the
quantity of Buprenorphine Hydrochloride in Envelope No. 2 is also not specified.
On behalf of the State
On the other hand, learned State Counsel appearing on advance
notice, accepts notice on behalf of respondent-State and has filed the custody
certificate of the petitioner, which is taken on record. According to which, the
petitioner is behind bars for 1 year 3 months and 9 days.
Learned State Counsel on instructions from the Investigating Officer
opposes the prayer for grant of regular bail stating that the recovery effected falls
within the category of commercial quantity. Therefore, rigour of Section 37 of
NDPS Act would be attracted in this case.
4. Analysis
Considering the custody period undergone by the petitioner i.e., 1
year 3 months and 9 days, and he is not involved in any other case, as is evident
from the perusal of the custody certificate, meaning thereby he is a person of clean
antecedents and the FSL report (Annexure P-2) appears to be inconclusive added
with the fact that investigation is complete, challan stands presented on
21.03.2024, charges have been framed on 12.04.2024 and out of total 12
prosecution witnesses, only one has been examined so far. This Court is sanguine
of the fact that conclusion of trial shall take considerable time, no useful purpose
would be served by keeping the petitioner behind bars for uncertain period,
wherein “bail is a rule and jail is an exception” and it would also violate the
principle of right to speedy trial and expeditious disposal under Article 21 of
Constitution of India, as has been time and again discussed by this Court, while
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relying upon the judgment of the Apex Court passed in Dataram Singh vs. State
of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. 2018(2) R.C.R. (Criminal) 131. Relevant paras of the
said judgment is reproduced as under:-
“2. A fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the
presumption of innocence, meaning thereby that a person is
believed to be innocent until found guilty. However, there are
instances in our criminal law where a reverse onus has been
placed on an accused with regard to some specific offences but
that is another matter and does not detract from the
fundamental postulate in respect of other offences. Yet another
important facet of our criminal jurisprudence is that the grant
of bail is the general rule and putting a person in jail or in a
prison or in a correction home (whichever expression one may
wish to use) is an exception. Unfortunately, some of these basic
principles appear to have been lost sight of with the result that
more and more persons are being incarcerated and for longer
periods. This does not do any good to our criminal
jurisprudence or to our society.
3. There is no doubt that the grant or denial of bail is entirely
the discretion of the judge considering a case but even so, the
exercise of judicial discretion has been circumscribed by a
large number of decisions rendered by this Court and by every
High Court in the country. Yet, occasionally there is a necessity
to introspect whether denying bail to an accused person is the
right thing to do on the facts and in the circumstances of a
case.
4. While so introspecting, among the factors that need to be
considered is whether the accused was arrested during
investigations when that person perhaps has the best
opportunity to tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses.
If the investigating officer does not find it necessary to arrest
an accused person during investigations, a strong case should
be made out for placing that person in judicial custody after a
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charge sheet is filed. Similarly, it is important to ascertain
whether the accused was participating in the investigations to
the satisfaction of the investigating officer and was not
absconding or not appearing when required by the
investigating officer. Surely, if an accused is not hiding from the
investigating officer or is hiding due to some genuine and
expressed fear of being victimised, it would be a factor that a
judge would need to consider in an appropriate case. It is also
necessary for the judge to consider whether the accused is a
first-time offender or has been accused of other offences and if
so, the nature of such offences and his or her general conduct.
The poverty or the deemed indigent status of an accused is also
an extremely important factor and even Parliament has taken
notice of it by incorporating an Explanation to section 436 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. An equally soft
approach to incarceration has been taken by Parliament by
inserting section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973.
5. To put it shortly, a humane attitude is required to be adopted
by a judge, while dealing with an application for remanding a
suspect or an accused person to police custody or judicial
custody. There are several reasons for this including
maintaining the dignity of an accused person, howsoever poor
that person might be, the requirements of Article 21 of the
Constitution and the fact that there is enormous overcrowding
in prisons, leading to social and other problems as noticed by
this Court in In Re-Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons,
2017(4) RCR (Criminal) 416: 2017(5) Recent Apex Judgments
(R.A.J.) 408 : (2017) 10 SCC 658
6. The historical background of the provision for bail has been
elaborately and lucidly explained in a recent decision delivered
in Nikesh Tara chand Shah v. Union of India, 2017 (13) SCALE
609 going back to the days of the Magna Carta. In that
decision, reference was made to Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State
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of Punjab, (1980) 2 SCC 565 in which it is observed that it was
held way back in Nagendra v. King-Emperor, AIR 1924
Calcutta 476 that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment.
Reference was also made to Emperor v. Hutchinson, AIR 1931
Allahabad 356 wherein it was observed that grant of bail is the
rule and refusal is the exception. The provision for bail is
therefore age-old and the liberal interpretation to the provision
for bail is almost a century old, going back to colonial days.
7. However, we should not be understood to mean that bail
should be granted in every case. The grant or refusal of bail is
entirely within the discretion of the judge hearing the matter
and though that discretion is unfettered, it must be exercised
judiciously and in a humane manner and compassionately.
Also, conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as
to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail
illusory.”
Therefore, to elucidate further, this Court is conscious of the basic
and fundamental principle of law that right to speedy trial is a part of reasonable,
fair and just procedure enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
This constitutional right cannot be denied to the accused as is the mandate of the
Apex court in “Balwinder Singh versus State of Punjab and Another“, SLP
(Crl.) No.8523/2024. Relevant paras of the said judgment reads as under:-
“7. An accused has a right to a fair trial and while a hurried
trial is frowned upon as it may not give sufficient time to prepare for
the defence, an inordinate delay in conclusion of the trial would
infringe the right of an accused guaranteed under Article 21 of the
Constitution.
8. It is not for nothing the Author Oscar Wilde in “The Ballad of
Reading Gaol”, wrote the following poignant lines while being
incarcerated:
“I know not whether Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
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All that we know who be in jail
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.”
5. Relief
In view of the discussions made hereinabove, the petitioner is hereby
directed to be released on regular bail on furnishing bail and surety bonds to the
satisfaction of the trial Court/Duty Magistrate, concerned.
In the afore-said terms, the present petition is hereby allowed.
However, it is made clear that anything stated hereinabove shall not
be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.
(SANDEEP MOUDGIL)
30.04.2025 JUDGE
Meenu
Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No
Whether reportable Yes/No
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