Mumbai: The Supreme Court has cancelled the bail of an accused booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act noting that he was granted bail on the ground of parity wherein his co-accused, Monika Hakim Singh, was released on the grounds that she was a woman and her personal search was not taken by any female officer and also it was not taken in seclusion.
“We fail to understand as to how there could be a parity in case of a woman, who has been granted bail only on the ground that she was a woman and her search was taken by a male officer and not a female officer; and on the other hand a person who is a male,” a bench of Justices BR Gavai, SVN Bhatti and Sandeep Mehta said on May 15.
The apex court has cancelled bail of Kantilal Ganchi who was arrested along with two other accused on January 10, 2022. Singh, Ganchi and Chetan Purohit were intercepted by the police near Chakan in Pune and they were allegedly found with 99 kilograms of drugs.
Ganchi was released on bail by Justice NR Borkar on April 25, 2023 on the grounds of parity. He had been out for the last one and half years. The sessions court granted bail to Singh on July 15, 2022 observing that she is a woman and that her personal search was not taken by any female officer and also it was not taken in seclusion.
Bail plea of other two was rejected who then approached the Bombay high Court. The HC granted bail to Ganchi in April last year and rejected that of Purohit. Purohit then approached the apex court seeking bail on the grounds of parity. His advocate Sana Raees Khan submitted that co-accused Singh and Ganchi were released on bail.
While going through the records, the apex court, however, took exception to Ganchi getting bail on the grounds of parity and asked the State to seek cancellation of his bail. The state accordingly filed a plea seeking cancellation of Ganchi’s bail.
His advocate Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh submitted that other than parity, the HC has also orally observed that the procedure under section 52 of the NDPS Act was not complied with. Section 52 deals with seizure and its inventory as per the procedure. However, the same has not been reflected in the HC order.
The SC cancelled Ganchi’s bail but granted him liberty to file fresh plea. Meanwhile, Purohit withdrew his bail plea and sought to file it afresh.
