Drug menace eating into society’s framework: Punjab and Haryana High Court

Tribune News Service

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 29

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that the drug menace was eating society’s basic framework like a termite. Justice Gurbir Singh of the high court also made it clear that the evidentiary value of a disclosure statement made by a co-accused could not be gone into at the stage of deciding pre-arrest bail plea.

The assertion by Justice Gurbir Singh came in a drugs matter, where a counsel contended that the petitioner had been implicated in the case on the basis of a disclosure statement made by a co-accused. Seeking the concession of anticipatory bail, the counsel added contraband’s recovery was not to be carried out from the petitioner.

No concession of anticipatory bail

The allegations levelled against the petitioner are quite serious…. Keeping in view the gravity of offence, I am of the view that custodial interrogation of the petitioner is necessary. The petitioner is not entitled to the concession of anticipatory bail. — Justice Gurbir Singh

The state’s stand, on the other hand, submitted that the petitioner was “nominated” as an accused in the matter following the disclosure statement. The Bench was also told that commercial quantity of psychotropic substance, along with one country-make pistol, was recovered from the possession of the co-accused, who made a statement that he was known to the petitioner. The co-accused had also claimed that the petitioner was into selling intoxicant tablets.

The matter was placed before Justice Gurbir Singh after the accused filed the plea seeking anticipatory bail the case registered on March 30, 2022, under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Arms Act at Fatehabad City police station

His counsel also told the court that the petitioner and another co-accused were police informers. The co-accused on March 29, 2022, visited a Station House Officer (SHO) at his residence. Besides, there were regular conversations between them from March 27 to March 30, 2022. It was improbable that an accused and a police official would have such conversations in a regular manner. Since the co-accused failed to pay gratification to the SHO, they were implicated in the false case, it was added.

After hearing counsel for the parties in detail and going through the documents, Justice Gurbir Singh turned down the bail plea.

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