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The learned counsel appearing for,the appellants submitted that the High Court has misconstrued the provisions of Section 36-A and 37 of the NDPS Act and that latter Section as amended starts with the non-obstante clause limiting the scope of provisions of the Cr.P.C. in the matter of granting bail and as such the High Court has no untremelled powers to grant bail inasmuch as the provisions of the amended Section 37 of the NDPS Act override the provisions of Section 439 Cr. P.C. We may at this stage note the relevant provisions of NDPS Act. The preamble to the NDPS Act shows that the object of the Act is to consolidate and amend the law relating to narcotic drugs and to make stringent provisions for the control and regulation of operations relating to narcotic drugs and psychotrophic substances etc. Sections 15 to 35 deal with various offences and penalties. Section 36 provides for constitution of Special Courts and empower the Government to constitute Special Courts and a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Special Court unless he is immediately before such appointment, a Sessions Judge or an Additional Sessions Judge. Section 36-A enumerates the offences triable by Special Courts and also deals with the procedure regarding the detention of the accused when produced before a Magistrate. Sub-section (b) of Section 36-A lays down that if the Magistrate to whom an accused is forwarded under Section 167 Cr. P.C., considers that the detention of such person for fifteen days is unnecessary he shall forward him to the Special Court having jurisdiction who shall take cognizance and proceed with the trial. Sub-section (3) of Section 36-A reads thus:

(2) A High Court or Court of Session may direct that any person who has been released on bail under this Chapter be arrested and commit him to custody."

The High Court having taken into consideration sub- section (3) of Section 36-A took the view that the limitations placed on the Special Courts cannot be read as fetters in its exercise of the powers under Section 439 Cr. P.C. In this context, the Division Bench referred to to sub- sections(8) and (9) of Section 20 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 ('TADA Act' for short) which are similar to Section 37 of NDPS Act and also relied on a judgment of this Court in Usmanbhai Dawoodbhai Memon and Others v. State of Gujarat, [1988] 2 SCC 271 a case which arose under the TADA Act. We shall refer to this judgment at a later stage after analysing the scope and effect of Section 37 of NDPS Act.

Section 37 as amended starts with a non-obstante clause stating that notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 no person accused of an offence prescribed therein shall be released on bail unless the conditions contained therein were satisfied. The nDPS Act is a special enactment as already noted it was enacted with a view to make stringent provision for the control and regulation of operations relating to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The being the underlying object and particularly when the provisions of Section 37 of NDPS Act are in negative terms limiting the scope of the applicability of the provisions of Cr. P.C. regarding bail, in our view, it cannot be held that the High Court's powers to grant bail under Section 439 Cr. P.C. are not subject to the limitation mentioned under Section 37 of NDPS Act. The non-obstante clause with which the Section starts should be given its due meaning and clearly it is intended to restrict the powers to grant bail. In case of inconistency between Section 439 Cr. P.C. and Section 37 of the NDPS Act, Section 37 prevails. In this context Section 4 Cr. P.C. may be noted which read thus:

"The dominant purpose in construing a statute is to ascertain the intention of Parliament. One of the well recognised canons of construction is that the legislature speaks its mind by use of correct expression and unless there is any ambiguity in the language of the provision, the Court should adopt literal construction if it does not lead to an absurdity."

As already noted, Section 37 of the nDPS Act starts with a non-obstante clause stating that notwithstanding anything contained in the Conde of Criminal Procedure, 1973 no personaccused of an offence prescribed therein shall be released on bail unless the conditions contained therein are satisfied. Consequently the power to grant bail under any of the provisions of Cr. P.C. should necessarily be subject to the conditions mentioned in Section 37 of the NDPS Act.