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HC grants bail to drug case accused as Mohali police fail to file challan
HC was hearing a plea from one Narinder Kumar, who was booked by the state special operations cell, Mohali, on April 13, 2021, for allegedly possessing drugs
The Punjab and Haryana high court has granted default bail to a drug case accused after the Mohali police failed to file the challan within the stipulated period.
The court was hearing a plea from one Narinder Kumar, who was booked by the state special operations cell, Mohali, on April 13, 2021, for allegedly possessing drugs.
Since the prosecution did not file any challan within the prescribed period of 180 days, the petitioner moved an application for his release, which was declined by a trial court on October 14, 2021, following which he approached the high court.
Before the 180-day period expired on October 10, 2021, acting on an application moved by the prosecution, the trial court had extended it by another 90 days on October 7, 2021, without issuing a notice to the accused.
The accused had argued that on the very day when the application was filed by the prosecution, it was allowed by the trial court, as shown in the attendance marked by the court where only public prosecutor is recorded as present.
The state counsel did not dispute the legal preposition that challan had to be filed within stipulated time and that a notice should have been issued to the accused as well, but argued that it was for the trial court to have issued notice to the accused and that on account of omission of the same, which was a procedural mistake, the petitioner cannot be allowed to benefit in any manner.
The court found that the challan had been filed beyond the period of 180 days. The order dated October 7, 2021, cannot be said to be a valid order on account of the accused not being served a notice before passing the order in question.
The high court referred to a Supreme Court order in this context, where it had clearly held that whenever any such application is to be filed, a prior notice is required to be furnished to the accused.
“The same not having been done, the order pertaining to extension of time for completing investigation cannot be said to have been validly passed and cannot be acted upon,” the bench of justice Gurvinder Singh Gill observed, while directing that the accused be released on bail.
