The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that it generally takes a “very liberal” approach while considering bail pleas in cases involving ganja under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale made the observation while hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by Biswanath Mandal, an accused in an NDPS case involving the alleged recovery of a “huge quantity” of ganja.
Court rejects anticipatory bail plea
The Bench, however, rejected Mandal’s plea for pre-arrest bail and advised him to surrender before the authorities and seek regular bail. It also indicated that if the lower courts rejected his regular bail application, he could approach the Supreme Court for relief.
“Come for bail, we’ll give you. See, when it comes to ganja, we are very liberal. Whenever it comes to us, we grant bail,” the Bench orally remarked.
High Court had refused bail
Mandal had challenged a Calcutta High Court order refusing him anticipatory bail. The High Court had noted that a large quantity of contraband was allegedly recovered from Mandal’s wife at a house where she resided. Although Mandal was not present during the search, the High Court held that he could not completely disassociate himself from the premises as its owner and cited the restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act.
Before the Supreme Court, Mandal’s counsel argued that the house did not belong to his client and referred to the exception under Section 37 concerning reasonable grounds for granting bail.
The Bench said the ownership issue could be examined during the investigation and offered Mandal time to surrender and apply for regular bail. After declining to entertain the anticipatory bail plea, the court dismissed the appeal.
