Himachal Pradesh High Court
Raman Ravi Verma vs State Of Himachal Pradesh on 5 August, 2024
Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. MP (M) No. 1579 of 2024 .
Reserved on: 29.07.2024 Date of Decision: 05.08.2024.
Raman Ravi Verma ...Petitioner
Versus
State of Himachal Pradesh
Coram
r to ...Respondent
Hon'ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 No. For the Petitioner : Mr. Peeyush Verma, Advocate. For the Respondent : Mr. Lokender Kutlehria, Additional Advocate General.
Rakesh Kainthla, Judge The petitioner has filed the present petition for seeking regular bail. It has been asserted that the petitioner was arrested in FIR No. 74 of 2024, dated 3.5.2024, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 21 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short 'NDPS Act'), registered at Police Station Sadar, Solan. The petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated. The police 1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes.
::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 2Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) have completed the investigation and filed the charge sheet before the Court. The matter was listed on 30.7.2024 for .
consideration of charge before the Court. The petitioner belongs to a respectable family and he has no chance of his absconding.
He shall abide by all the terms and conditions, which the Court may impose. Hence, the petition.
2. The petition was opposed by filing a status report asserting that the police party was on patrolling duty on 3.5.2024. A secret information was received at 7:40 PM that a vehicle bearing registration No. HP-01A-7109 was transporting the heroin. The police completed the formalities and intercepted the car in the presence of one witness. The driver revealed his name as Ravinder. The person sitting in the front seat revealed his name as Raman Ravi Verma (the petitioner) and the person sitting in the rear seat revealed his name as Ravi Sharma. The police searched the bag being carried by the petitioner and found two syringes, one lid and one blue plastic envelope containing 8.91 grams of heroin. The police seized the heroin and the other articles lying in the bag. The police arrested the petitioner and Ravi Sharma. The petitioner revealed on inquiry that he is a drug addict and had purchased 09 grams of heroin from Pradeep ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 3 Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) Kumar at Derabassi. The police arrested Pradeep Kumar based on the information. The money was transferred to the account .
of one Himmat, who was also arrested. The heroin was sent to FSL, Junga and as per the result, the exhibit stated to be the (heroin) was a sample of Diacetylmorphine heroin weighing 08.435 grams. The police recorded the statements of witnesses and obtained the call detail records. The challan was filed before the Court on 29.6.2024 and was fixed on 30.7.2024 for consideration of charge. The petitioner can indulge in the commission of a similar offence in case of release on bail. He can intimidate the witnesses. No other case was registered against the petitioner. Hence, the status report.
3. I have heard Mr. Peeyush Verma, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Lokender Kutlehria, learned Additional Advocate General, for the respondent-State.
4. Mr. Peeyush Verma, learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated. As per the prosecution case, the quantity of heroin stated to have been recovered from the petitioner's bag is 8.91 grams, which is an intermediate quantity. The status report ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 4 Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) shows that the petitioner is a drug addict and not a drug peddler.
No case has been registered against him. The petitioner should .
be afforded a chance to reform himself. Hence, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and the petitioner be released on bail.
5. Mr. Lokender Kutlehria, learned Additional Advocate General for the respondent-State submitted that the petitioner was involved in the commission of heinous offence. He would indulge in the commission of a similar offence in case of release on bail. Therefore, he prayed that the present petition be dismissed.
6. I have given considerable thought to the submissions at the bar and have gone through the records carefully.
7. The parameters for granting bail were considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Bhagwan Singh v. Dilip Kumar @ Deepu @ Depak, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1059, wherein it was observed as under:-
"12. The grant of bail is a discretionary relief which nec- essarily means that such discretion would have to be ex- ercised in a judicious manner and not as a matter of course. The grant of bail is dependent upon contextual facts of the matter being dealt with by the Court and may ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 5 Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) vary from case to case. There cannot be any exhaustive parameters set out for considering the application for a grant of bail. However, it can be noted that;
.
(a) While granting bail the court has to keep in mind factors such as the nature of accusations, severity of the punishment, if the accusations entail a conviction and the nature of evidence in support of the accusations;
(b) reasonable apprehensions of the witnesses be-
ing tampered with or the apprehension of there be- ing a threat for the complainant should also weigh with the Court in the matter of grant of bail.
(c) While it is not accepted to have the entire evi- dence establishing the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt but there ought to be always a prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge.
(d) Frivolity of prosecution should always be con- sidered and it is only the element of genuineness that shall have to be considered in the matter of grant of bail and in the event of there being some doubt as to the genuineness of the prosecution, in the normal course of events, the accused is entitled to have an order of bail.
13. We may also profitably refer to a decision of this Court in Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan @ Pappu Ya-
dav (2004) 7 SCC 528 where the parameters to be taken into consideration for the grant of bail by the Courts have been explained in the following words:
"11. The law in regard to grant or refusal of bail is very well settled. The court granting bail should ex- ercise its discretion in a judicious manner and not as a matter of course. Though at the stage of grant- ing bail a detailed examination of evidence and elaborate documentation of the merit of the case need not be undertaken, there is a need to indicate in such orders reasons for prima facie concluding ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 6 Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) why bail was being granted particularly where the accused is charged of having committed a serious offence. Any order devoid of such reasons would .
suffer from non-application of mind. It is also nec-
essary for the court granting bail to consider among other circumstances, the following factors also be- fore granting bail; they are:
(a) The nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence.
(b) Reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witness or apprehension of threat to the com- plainant.
(c) Prima facie satisfaction of the court in support of the charge. (See Ram Govind Upadhyay v. Sudar-
shan Singh [(2002) 3 SCC 598: 2002 SCC (Cri) 688] and Puran v. Rambilas [(2001) 6 SCC 338: 2001 SCC (Cri) 1124].)"
8. A similar view was taken in State of Haryana vs Dharamraj 2023 SCC Online 1085, wherein it was observed:
7. A foray, albeit brief, into relevant precedents is warranted. This Court considered the factors to guide the grant of bail in Ram Govind Upadhyay v. Sudarshan Singh, (2002) 3 SCC 598 and Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan, (2004) 7 SCC 528. In Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee, (2010) 14 SCC 496, the relevant principles were restated thus:
'9. ... It is trite that this Court does not, normally, interfere with an order passed by the High Court granting or rejecting bail to the accused. However, it is equally incumbent upon the High Court to exercise its discretion judiciously, cautiously and strictly in compliance with the basic principles laid down in a plethora of decisions of this Court on the point. It is well settled that, among other ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 7 Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) circumstances, the factors to be borne in mind while considering an application for bail are:
(i) whether there is any prima facie or reasonable .
ground to believe that the accused had committed the offence;
(ii) nature and gravity of the accusation;
(iii) severity of the punishment in the event of conviction;
(iv) danger of the accused absconding or fleeing, if released on bail;
r to
(v) character, behaviour, means, position and standing of the accused;
(vi) likelihood of the offence being repeated;
(vii) reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being influenced; and
(viii) danger, of course, of justice being thwarted by grant of bail.'
9. As per the status report, the petitioner was found in possession of 8.91 grams of heroin. The weight of the heroin in the laboratory was found to be 8.435 grams without a poly piece.
This is an intermediate quantity and the rigours of Section 37 of the ND&PS Act do not apply to the present case.
10. The status report shows that the petitioner is a drug addict and he had purchased the heroin from Pradeep Verma.
Thus, the submission that the petitioner is a drug peddler is not acceptable. The petitioner is a drug addict and a victim of circumstance. Hence, he deserves a chance to reform himself.
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11. The status report shows that the investigation is complete and the charge sheet has been filed before the Court. It .
was submitted that the petitioner can intimidate the witnesses, however, this apprehension can be removed by imposing the conditions and the bail cannot be denied merely based on the apprehension alone.
12. The petitioner asserted that he is a permanent resident of District Shimla. This was not stated to be incorrect. It means that the petitioner has roots in the society and there are no chances of his absconding.
13. In view of the aforesaid discussion, the present petition is allowed and the petitioner is ordered to be released on bail in the sum of ₹1,00,000/- with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court. While on bail, the petitioner will abide by the following terms and conditions: -
(I) The petitioner will not intimidate the witnesses nor will he influence any evidence in any manner whatsoever; (II) The petitioner shall attend the trial in case a charge sheet is presented against him and will not seek unnecessary adjournments;
(III) The petitioner will not leave the present address for a continuous period of seven days without furnishing the ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS 9 Neutral Citation No. ( 2024:HHC:6329 ) address of intending visit to the SHO, the Police Station concerned and the Trial Court;
(IV) The petitioner will surrender his passport, if any, to the .
Court; and (V) The petitioner will furnish his mobile number, and social media contact to the Police and the Court and will abide by the summons/notices received from the Police/Court through SMS/WhatsApp/Social Media Account. In case of any change in the mobile number or social media accounts, the same will be intimated to the Police/Court within five days from the date of the change.
14. It is expressly made clear that in case of violation of any of these conditions, the prosecution will have a right to file a petition for cancellation of the bail.
15. The observation made herein before shall remain confined to the disposal of the petition and will have no bearing, whatsoever, on the merits of the case.
(Rakesh Kainthla) Judge 5th August, 2024 (Chander) ::: Downloaded on - 05/08/2024 20:32:06 :::CIS