Bombay HC grants bail to man arrested with around 8kg ganja

The court said ascertaining whether the quantity was more than permissible limits was the prerogative of the trial court and added that the man had been in jail since 2019.

The Bombay high court (HC) recently held that a man booked and arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for possessing contraband less than commercial quantity could be granted bail, as ascertaining whether the quantity was more than permissible limits was the prerogative of the trial court and that the man had been in jail since 2019.

Bombay high court. (HT FILE)

A single bench of justice Sarang Kotwal, while hearing the bail application of Santosh Shinde, was informed by advocate Ganesh Gupta that his client had been arrested along with two others by Navi Mumbai crime branch and each of them were in possession of different quantities of marijuana. Gupta submitted that while the crime branch officers recovered around 2.4 kg and 13.8 kg marijuana from the other two, his client was found to be in possession of 8.4 kgs of the drug, which was much lesser than the permitted commercial quantity, hence his client should be granted bail.

The offence occurred on August 1, 2019 when crime branch officers, based on a tip-off, apprehended a woman with marijuana. She led the officers to a larger stash from the house of the second accused. He, in turn, led the investigators to Shinde who was seated in van which contained the contraband. After Shinde’s effort to flee failed, he was arrested and booked under NDPS Act and has been in jail since then.

Gupta submitted that as the investigation was over and a charge sheet was filed, Shinde could be released on bail.

However, additional public prosecutor AA Takalkar opposed the application saying though the marijuana recovered from the applicant was less than the commercial quantity, the same seized in the connected raids had to be taken into consideration, and as the seized material was more than the permitted amount, the applicant should not be granted bail.

After hearing the submissions, the court held that it was not clear whether the marijuana belonged to Shinde and though he tried to flee, it was up to the trial court to decide on his role. It added that as he had been in jail since 2019, it was granting Shinde bail on a personal bond of ₹30,000 and sureties of the same amount.