HC upholds PSI’s prosecution for delay in filing chargesheet in drugs case

Bombay High Court upholds special court order to prosecute police sub-inspector for delaying filing of chargesheet in drugs case, resulting in grant of default bail to accused.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court recently upheld a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court order directing prosecution of a police sub-inspector (PSI) for delaying filing of chargesheet against three accused in a drugs case, resulting in grant of default bail to the trio.

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The trio was arrested by Butibori police in Nagpur in July 2021 for alleged possession of marijuana weighing around 78.360 kg. From August 27, 2021, the investigation of the case was handled by PSI Ashish Morkhade. However, on January 28, 2022, the special court in Nagpur granted bail to the trio, as Morkhade neither filed chargesheet within the stipulated period of 180 days, nor did he seek extension.

On April 8, 2022, the special court, while convicting the three, directed the special inspector general of police, Nagpur Zone and the superintendent of police, Nagpur (Rural) to register a case against Morkhade.

In view of the facts, circumstances of the case and the evidence available on record, the special court concluded that the delay in filing of the chargesheet was “intentional” and therefore Morkhade was liable to be prosecuted for breach of section 59(1) of the NDPS Act. The section provides punishment of up to one year imprisonment and a fine for “failure on part of the officer on duty or his connivance at the contravention of the NDPS Act”.

The PSI then moved the high court, challenging the special court order on various grounds.

A single judge bench of justice GA Sanap, however, dismissed his petition, observing that investigation is the most important part of the criminal justice system, as the fate of the entire case depends upon the quality of the investigation and therefore lapses in investigation must be dealt with iron hand.

“The (low) quality of investigation is one of the factors for the dismal rate of conviction. In several cases, a very casual and careless approach is adopted by investigating officers and therefore whenever the courts are confronted with such situations, they must deal with the same with iron fist,” justice Sanap said, while upholding the lower court order.

“It is observed that by and large, a casual approach is adopted (by police officers) in conducting the investigation even in serious crimes,” the judge said, adding that the probe conducted by Morkhade was “a classic example”.

The high court was irked to note that though the investigation was effectively completed on October 13, 2021, the chargesheet was filed belatedly, only after the accused claimed and secured default bail. “The misconduct on the part of the investigating officer, despite completion of investigation well in time, has extended the benefit of default bail to the accused,” justice Sanap said.

The bench added that the courts must initiate appropriate action against police officers, whenever they find that some actionable wrong within the meaning of section 59 of the NDPS Act has been committed.