Brief Facts
- The petitioner was accused of committing offences punishable under Sections 20, 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act. He had been under incarceration for a period of 7 years and the criminal trial was not even half completed. High Court denied bail against which SLP was filed.
Issues
- Whether the provisions of section 436A of the Cr.P.C (which requires the accused to be enlarged on bail if the trial is not concluded within the specified periods) would be fettered by section 37 of the NDPS Act?
- What are the principles behind interpretation of Section 37 of the NDPS Act? What is the manner in which the conditions imposed in section 37 of the NDPS Act are to be considered by the Court while deciding the bail applications of the accused persons?
- Whether Section 37 of the NDPS fetters the courts from granting bail on ground of undue delay in completion of Trial?
Held
- The Apex Court allowed the Appeal and enlarged the Appellant on bail.
- A plain and literal interpretation of the conditions under Section 37 (i.e., that Court should be satisfied that the accused is not guilty and would not commit any offence) would effectively exclude grant of bail altogether, resulting in punitive detention and unsanctioned preventive detention as well. Therefore, the only manner in which such special conditions as enacted under Section 37 can be considered within constitutional parameters is where the court is reasonably satisfied on a prima facie look at the material on record (whenever the bail application is made) that the accused is not guilty. Any other interpretation, would result in complete denial of the bail to a person accused of offences such as those enacted under Section 37 of the NDPS Act.
- The standard to be considered therefore, is one, where the court would look at the material in a broad manner, and reasonably see whether the accused’s guilt may be proved. The judgments of this court have, therefore, emphasized that the satisfaction which courts are expected to record, i.e., that the accused may not be guilty, is only prima facie, based on a reasonable reading, which does not call for meticulous examination of the materials collected during investigation.
- Grant of bail on ground of undue delay in trial, cannot be said to be fettered by Section 37 of the Act, given the imperative of Section 436A which is applicable to offences under the NDPS Act too.
Relevant Para No.
- 19, 20