Breach of standing orders: HC grants bail to man caught with 8.655 kg marijuana

The Bombay high court has granted bail to a man arrested for possession of marijuana due to a fundamental defect in the collection of samples by the police.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday granted bail to a man arrested in possession of 8.655 kg of marijuana. Acting on a specific tip off, the Ghatkopar unit of the crime branch on February 1, 2023, apprehended the man, identified as Venkatesh Permal along with three others in Dadar. The quartet, including Permal, was found carrying bags containing 66.455 kg of marijuana valued at ₹30.58 lakh.

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Permal moved the Bombay high court for bail contending that there was a fundamental defect in the collection of the samples, which was evident from the FIR and the seizure panchnama which rendered the prosecution case wholly unsustainable.

His counsel pointed out that after weighing the contents found in packets allegedly carried by the four accused, the police team mixed all the contents and thereafter drew samples from the mixture and since this was in breach of standing orders for collecting samples, the entire seizure was vitiated.

HC accepted the argument and ordered Permal to be released on furnishing a personal bond of ₹50,000 and one or two sureties in the same amount.

The single judge bench of justice NJ Jamadar said mixing of the contents seized from four different persons and thereafter collecting samples from the mixture “eroded the sanctity” of the process to collect samples as representative of the bulk.

“Resultantly, the question as to whether the liability can be fastened on the applicant for the possession of the contraband, prima facie, enters in the realm of uncertainty,” said the judge while granting bail to Venkatesh Permal.

Justice Jamadar clarified that the underlying object of the Standing Order or Instructions was to ensure that the sample unmistakably represents the bulk, as the bulk is disposed of in terms of the NDPS Act, and the Drug Disposal Rules and what remains before the court is the sample.

“When a person is sought to be fastened with liability for possessing a particular quantity of contraband, based on the sample, the court ought to have the assurance that the sample collected represents the bulk,” said the bench. “The insistence on collecting samples from each of the packets and containers stems from this objective,” it added.