Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:88601 Court No. - 66 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 4947 of 2025 Applicant :- Awadhesh Pandey Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Indra Deo Mishra,Pankaj Kumar Tiwari,Vinay Kumar Singh Chandel Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Sameer Jain,J. 1. Heard Sri K.V. Suryavanshi, learned Advocate holding brief of Sri Vinay Kumar Singh Chandel, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Pradeep Kumar, learned AGA for the State-respondent. 2. The instant application has been filed seeking release of the applicant on bail in Case Crime No. 16 of 2024, under Sections 8/20/60 NDPS Act, Police Station- Baburi, District- Varanasi, during pendency of the trial in the court below. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that this is the second bail application filed on behalf of the applicant and his first bail application was dismissed on merit by this Court after considering the fact that from the possession of applicant and others huge commercial quantity of ganja was recovered but he is pressing the instant second bail application on the ground that after rejection of the first bail application of the applicant, bail application of two co-accused persons Ashu Singh @ Praveen Singh and Heera Lal Pandey have been allowed by co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide orders dated 10.04.2025 and 15.04.2025 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos. 32887 of 2024 and 25623 of 2024 respectively and on facts, case of applicant is at par with them as according to prosecution, they were also sitting along with the applicant in the vehicle from which the alleged contraband was recovered. 4. He further submitted that applicant is not having any criminal history and he is in jail in the present matter since 16.02.2024 i.e. for last more than a years. 5. Per contra, learned AGA opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that this is the second bail application filed on behalf of the applicant but could not dispute, similarly placed two accused have been released on bail by co-ordinate Bench of this Court. 6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case. 7. However, this is the second bail application filed on behalf of the applicant and his first bail application was dismissed after considering the fact that from the possession of applicant and others huge commercial quantity of ganja was recovered but it reflects, after rejection of the first bail application of the applicant, bail application of two co-accused persons Ashu Singh @ Praveen Singh and Heera Lal Pandey have been allowed by co-ordinate Bench of this Court and as far as facts of the case are concerned, case of applicant is at par with them as they were also sitting along with the applicant in the vehicle from which the alleged contraband was recovered. 8. The Apex Court in the case of Satender Kumar Antil Vs. CBI & another (2022) 10 SCC 51 in paragraph no. 98 has observed that- "Uniformity and certainty in the decisions of the court are the foundations of judicial dispensation. Persons accused with same offence shall never be treated differently either by the same court or by the same or different courts. Such an action though by an exercise of discretion despite being a judicial one would be a grave affront to Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India." 9. Considering the observation made by the Apex Court in case of Satender Kumar Antil (supra), the bail application of the an accused can be considered on the sole ground of parity. 10. Further, applicant is not having any criminal history and he is in jail in the present matter since 16.02.2024 i.e. for last more than a years. 11. Therefore, considering the facts and circumstances of the case discussed above, in my view, applicant is entitled to be released on bail. 12. Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the instant bail application is allowed. 13. Let the applicant- Awadhesh Pandey be released on bail in the aforesaid case on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall appear before the trial court on the dates fixed, unless his personal presence is exempted. (ii) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (iii) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal and anti-social activity. 14. In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution will be at liberty to move an application before this Court for cancellation of the bail of the applicant. 15. It is clarified that the observations made herein are limited to the facts brought in by the parties pertaining to the disposal of bail application and the said observations shall have no bearing on the merits of the case during trial. Order Date :- 23.5.2025 KK Patel Digitally signed by :- KRISHN KANT PATEL High Court of Judicature at Allahabad