Telangana High Court
Arjun Singh vs The State Of Telangana on 25 September, 2025
THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA
CRIMINAL PETITION No.11863 OF 2025
ORDER :
This criminal petition is filed under Section 480 & 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short 'BNSS') by the petitioner/A.2 seeking enlargement on bail in connection with Crime No.75 of 2025 of Prohibition & Excise Station, Dhoolpet, Hyderabad. The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Section 8(c) r/w.20(b)(ii)(B)&22(c) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short 'NDPS Act').
2. The case of the prosecution is that on 11.08.2025 on reliable information about possession and transportation of MDMA, dry ganja by some persons the police conducted check at Jali Hanuman Temple, Dhoolpet, Hyderabad, found A.1 on Activa DLX and petitioner along with A.3 on Burgman Street vehicle and seized 1.510 Kgs of Ganja, 0.11 grams of LSD Jelly (5) dots and 12.290 grams of MDMA from them. The contraband was seized from the possession of A.1 to A.3 under the cover of panchanama in the presence of panchas and the police have recorded the confession statements of A.1 to A.3, wherein the involvement of other accused came to light. As -2- such police registered the case against the accused for the above offences.
3. Heard Sri Gulab Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri D.Arun Kumar, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent-State.
4. The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that petitioner is innocent of the said offences and he has been falsely implicated in this case by the police. Petitioner is in jail from 11.08.2025, and he is the only bread winner of the family and he has to take care of his old aged parents suffering from ill-health. He further contended that petitioner undertakes to abide by any conditions that may be imposed by this Court and prayed to grant bail to him.
5. On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed bail on the ground that 1.510 kgs of ganja, 0.11 grams of LSD jelly (5) dots and 12.290 grams of MDMA was seized from the possession of petitioner along with A.1 and A.2 the LSD Jelly and the MDMA is a huge commercial quantity and investigation is still pending. However, no criminal cases are pending against this petitioner. As the contraband seized is a huge commercial quantity, he prayed to dismiss this petition. -3-
6. Considering the submissions made by the respective counsel and the material placed on record, the petitioner herein is A.2 and seized contraband is 1.510 kgs of ganja, 12.290 grams of MDMA and 0.11 grams of LSD Jelly (5) dots. The alleged contraband of MDMA is a commercial quantity. At this stage, it is pertinent to note Section 37 of the NDPS Act, and the same reads as under :
"37. Offences to be cognizable and non-bailable.
-- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974),--
(a) every offence punishable under this Act shall be cognizable;
(b) no person accused of an offence punishable for 1[offences under section 19 or section 24 or section 27A and also for offences involving commercial quantity] shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless--
(i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release, and
(ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
(2) The limitations on granting of bail specified in clause (b) of sub-section (1) are in addition to the limitations under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) or any other law for the time being in force on granting of bail."-4-
7. In view thereof, Section 37 of the NDPS Act mandates that offences involving commercial quantities be non-bailable, requiring reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty and unlikely to commit further offences while on bail. In the facts and circumstances of the case on hand, this Court is not satisfied that conditions for granting bail under Section 37 are met. Therefore, the Criminal Petition lacks merit and the same is liable to be dismissed.
8. Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is dismissed.
Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending shall stand closed.
_______________ K. SUJANA, J Date :25.09.2025 Rds