Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. MP (M) No. 1297 of 2025 Reserved on: 24.06.2025 Date of Decision: 01.07.2025 Jhabe Ram @ Jhave Ram ...Petitioner Versus State of Himachal Pradesh ...Respondent Coram Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 No For the Petitioner : Mr. Rakesh Thakur and Mr. Panku, Advocates. For the Respondent : Mr. Ajit Sharma, Deputy Advocate General. Rakesh Kainthla, Judge The petitioner has filed the present petition for seeking regular bail. It has been asserted that the petitioner was arrested vide F.I.R. No. 74 of 2024, dated 09.05.2024, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 20, 25, and 29 read with Section 35 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short ‘NDPS Act’) registered at Police Station Dharmapur, District Solan (H.P.). A false FIR was registered 1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes. 2 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) against the petitioner. Co-accused, Mintu, has already been released on bail. Petitioner, Jhabe Ram, was implicated based on the disclosure statement made by co-accused-Harjit Singh. The petitioner has nothing to do with the commission of the crime. The statement made by the co-accused is inadmissible in evidence. No money was transferred to the bank account of the petitioner. No recovery was effected from him. The police have filed the charge sheet, and no fruitful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody. The petitioner was arrested on 12.05.2024, and more than one year has elapsed since the petitioner’s arrest. He would abide by all the terms and conditions which the Court may impose; hence, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the petitioner be released on bail. 2. The petition is opposed by filing a status report asserting that the police party was on patrolling duty on 09.05.2024. They received a secret information at 12:15 pm that a vehicle bearing registration No. HP-01AA-0566 was parked at Subathu Dharampur road near the rain shelter Chapla. Harjeet Singh, the driver of the vehicle, was transporting a huge quantity of Charas, and Charas could be recovered by searching 3 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) the vehicle. The information was credible, which was reduced to writing and sent to the Supervisory Officer. The police party proceeded towards the rain shelter. The police found the vehicle near the rain shelter. The driver of the vehicle identified himself as Harjeet Singh. The police searched the vehicle in the presence of two independent witnesses and recovered two plastic bags wrapped in khaki plastic kept behind the driver’s seat cover. The police checked the packets and found that they contained black sticks, which were identified as Charas. The police seized the Charas and arrested the driver. Harjeet Singh was interrogated, and he revealed that the Charas was given to him by Jhabe Ram after taking it out of the pit near the hill. He was directed by Mintu Kumar to bring the Charas. He led the police to the spot, and the police recovered 2 bags. One was containing 36 packets of Charas. The packets were weighed, and their weight was found to be 21.120 kgs. The other bag contained 22 packets, which were found to contain 14.650 kgs of Charas. Police seized the Charas. Police arrested Jhabe Ram, who revealed during the interrogation that he and Mintu were dealing with the Charas in partnership. He used to supply Charas to Mintu, and they used to share the money obtained by selling Charas. The statements of 4 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) account were checked, and the money was transferred from the account. FIR No. 217/2018 dated 15.09.2018 has been registered against the petitioner for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 15 and 29 of the NDPS Act and is listed for recording the statement of the accused under Section 313 of Cr.P.C on 14.07.2025. The petitioner is the brother of the accused, Mintu. The petitioner and Mintu were dealing in charas. The Charas was sent to SFSL, Junga and was confirmed to be Cannabis after the analysis. Police conducted a financial investigation and found that the Mintu had purchased the vehicle, constructed a house and opened an account in which huge money was deposited and withdrawn. Hence, the status report. 3. I have heard Mr. Rakesh Thakur, and Mr. Panku, learned counsel for the petitioner, and Mr. Prashant Sen, learned Deputy Advocate General for the respondent/State. 4. Mr. Rakesh Thakur, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner is innocent and was falsely implicated. There is no material against the petitioner except the statement made by the co-accused-Harjit Singh, 5 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) which is inadmissible in evidence. The petitioner was arrested on 12.05.2024 and has been in custody since then. He would abide by all the terms and conditions which the Court may impose; hence, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and that the petitioner be released on bail. 5. Mr. Ajit Sharma, learned Deputy Advocate General, for the respondent/State, submitted that the petitioner was found as the supplier of the charas. He and his brother Mintu have generated a huge amount from the sale/purchase of charas. The financial investigation is being conducted on the bank accounts of the petitioner and Mintu. Charas is affecting the young generation adversely, and the offence involving the charas should not be seen lightly; therefore, he prayed that the present petition be dismissed. 6. I have given considerable thought to the submissions made at the bar and have gone through the records carefully. 7. The parameters for granting bail were considered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ajwar v. Waseem (2024) 10 SCC 768: 2024 SCC OnLine SC 974, wherein it was observed as under at page 783: - 6 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) “Relevant parameters for granting bail 26. While considering as to whether bail ought to be granted in a matter involving a serious criminal offence, the Court must consider relevant factors like the nature of the accusations made against the accused, the manner in which the crime is alleged to have been committed, the gravity of the offence, the role attributed to the accused, the criminal antecedents of the accused, the probability of tampering of the witnesses and repeating the offence, if the accused are released on bail, the likelihood of the accused being unavailable in the event bail is granted, the possibility of obstructing the proceedings and evading the courts of justice and the overall desirability of releasing the accused on bail. [Refer: Chaman Lal v. State of U.P. [Chaman Lal v. State of U.P., (2004) 7 SCC 525: 2004 SCC (Cri) 1974]; Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan [Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v. Rajesh Ranjan, (2004) 7 SCC 528: 2004 SCC (Cri) 1977]; Masroor v. State of U.P. [Masroor v. State of U.P., (2009) 14 SCC 286 : (2010) 1 SCC (Cri) 1368]; Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee [Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee, (2010) 14 SCC 496 : (2011) 3 SCC (Cri) 765]; Neeru Yadav v. State of U.P. [Neeru Yadav v. State of U.P., (2014) 16 SCC 508 : (2015) 3 SCC (Cri) 527]; Anil Kumar Yadav v. State (NCT of Delhi)[Anil Kumar Yadav v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2018) 12 SCC 129 : (2018) 3 SCC (Cri) 425]; Mahipal v. Rajesh Kumar [Mahipal v. Rajesh Kumar, (2020) 2 SCC 118 : (2020) 1 SCC (Cri) 558] .] 8. This position was reiterated in Ramratan v. State of M.P., 2024 SCC OnLine SC 3068, wherein it was observed: - “12. The fundamental purpose of bail is to ensure the accused's presence during the investigation and trial. Any conditions imposed must be reasonable and directly related to this objective. This Court in Parvez Noordin Lokhandwalla v. State of Maharastra (2020) 10 SCC 77 observed that though the competent court is empowered 7 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) to exercise its discretion to impose “any condition” for the grant of bail under Sections 437(3) and 439(1)(a) CrPC, the discretion of the court has to be guided by the need to facilitate the administration of justice, secure the presence of the accused and ensure that the liberty of the accused is not misused to impede the investigation, overawe the witnesses or obstruct the course of justice. The relevant observations are extracted herein below: “14. The language of Section 437(3) CrPC, which uses the expression “any condition … otherwise in the interest of justice” has been construed in several decisions of this Court. Though the competent court is empowered to exercise its discretion to impose “any condition” for the grant of bail under Sections 437(3) and 439(1)(a) CrPC, the discretion of the court has to be guided by the need to facilitate the administration of justice, secure the presence of the accused and ensure that the liberty of the accused is not misused to impede the investigation, overawe the witnesses or obstruct the course of justice. Several decisions of this Court have dwelt on the nature of the conditions which can legitimately be imposed both in the context of bail and anticipatory bail.” (Emphasis supplied) 13. In Sumit Mehta v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2013) 15 SCC 570, this Court discussed the scope of the discretion of the Court to impose “any condition” on the grant of bail and observed in the following terms:— “15. The words “any condition” used in the provision should not be regarded as conferring absolute power on a court of law to impose any condition that it chooses to impose. Any condition has to be interpreted as a reasonable condition acceptable in the facts permissible in the circumstance, and effective in the pragmatic sense, and should not defeat the order of grant of bail. We are of the view that the present facts and circumstances of the case do not warrant such an extreme condition to be imposed.” (Emphasis supplied) 8 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) 14. This Court, in Dilip Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2021) 2 SCC 779, laid down the factors to be taken into consideration while deciding the bail application and observed: “4. It is well settled by a plethora of decisions of this Court that criminal proceedings are not for the realisation of disputed dues. It is open to a court to grant or refuse the prayer for anticipatory bail, depending on the facts and circumstances of the particular case. The factors to be taken into consideration while considering an application for bail are the nature of the accusation and the severity of the punishment in the case of conviction and the nature of the materials relied upon by the prosecution; reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witnesses or apprehension of threat to the complainant or the witnesses; the reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the time of trial or the likelihood of his abscondence; character, behaviour and standing of the accused; and the circumstances which are peculiar or the accused and larger interest of the public or the State and similar other considerations. A criminal court, exercising jurisdiction to grant bail/anticipatory bail, is not expected to act as a recovery agent to realise the dues of the complainant, and that too, without any trial.” (Emphasis supplied) 9. This position was reiterated in Shabeen Ahmed versus State of U.P., 2025 SCC Online SC 479. 10. The present petition has to be decided as per the parameters laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. 11. As per the status report, the police arrested Harjit Singh, who disclosed during the investigation that the charas 9 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) was supplied to him by Jhabe Ram (the present petitioner). It was laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Dipakbhai Jagdishchandra Patel v. State of Gujarat, (2019) 16 SCC 547: (2020) 2 SCC (Cri) 361: 2019 SCC OnLine SC 588 that a statement made by co-accused during the investigation is hit by Section 162 of Cr.P.C. and cannot be used as a piece of evidence. It was also held that the confession made by the co-accused is inadmissible because of Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act. It was observed at page 568:- 44. Such a person, viz., the person who is named in the FIR, and therefore, the accused in the eye of the law, can indeed be questioned, and the statement is taken by the police officer. A confession that is made to a police officer would be inadmissible, having regard to Section 25 of the Evidence Act. A confession, which is vitiated under Section 24 of the Evidence Act, would also be inadmissible. A confession, unless it fulfils the test laid down in Pakala Narayana Swami [Pakala Narayana Swami v. King Emperor, 1939 SCC OnLine PC 1 : (1938-39) 66 IA 66: AIR 1939 PC 47] and as accepted by this Court, may still be used as an admission under Section 21 of the Evidence Act. This, however, is subject to the bar of admissibility of a statement under Section 161 CrPC. Therefore, even if a statement contains admission, the statement being one under Section 161, it would immediately attract the bar under Section 162 CrPC.” 12. Similarly, it was held in Surinder Kumar Khanna vs Intelligence Officer Directorate of Revenue Intelligence 2018 (8) SCC 10 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) 271 that a confession made by a co-accused cannot be taken as a substantive piece of evidence against another co-accused and can only be utilised to lend assurance to the other evidence. The Hon’ble Supreme Court subsequently held in Tofan Singh Versus State of Tamil Nadu 2021 (4) SCC 1 that a confession made to a police officer during the investigation is hit by Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act and is not saved by the provisions of Section 67 of the NDPS Act. Therefore, no advantage can be derived by the prosecution from the confessional statement made by the co-accused implicating the petitioner. 13. A similar situation arose before this Court in Dinesh Kumar @ Billa versus State of H.P., 2020 Cri. L.J. 4564, and it was held that a confession of the co-accused and the phone calls are not sufficient to deny bail to a person. 14. It was laid down by this Court in Saina Devi vs State of Himachal Pradesh 2022 Law Suit (HP) 211 that where the police have no material except the call details record and the disclosure statement of the co-accused, the petitioner cannot be kept in custody. It was observed:- “[16] In the facts of the instant case also the prosecution, for implicating the petitioner, relies upon firstly the 11 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) confessional statement made by accused Dabe Ram and secondly the CDR details of calls exchanged between the petitioner and the wife of co-accused Dabe Ram. Taking into consideration the evidence with respect to the availability of CDR details involving the phone number of the petitioner and the mobile phone number of the wife of coaccused Dabe Ram, this Court had considered the existence of a prime facie case against the petitioner and had rejected the bail application as not satisfying the conditions of Section 37 of NDPS Act. [17] Since the existence of CDR details of accused person(s) has not been considered as a circumstance sufficient to hold a prima facie case against the accused person(s), in Pallulabid Ahmad's case (supra), this Court is of the view that petitioner has made out a case for maintainability of his successive bail application as also for grant of bail in his favour. [18] Except for the existence of CDRs and the disclosure statement of the co-accused, no other material appears to have been collected against the petitioner. The disclosure made by the co-accused cannot be read against the petitioner as per the mandate of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Tofan Singh Vs State of Tamil Nadu, 2021 4 SCC 1. Further, on the basis of the aforesaid elucidation, the petitioner is also entitled to the benefit of bail. 15. A similar view was taken by this Court in Dabe Ram vs. State of H.P., Cr.MP(M) No. 1894 of 2023, decided on 01.09.2023, Parvesh Saini vs State of H.P., Cr.MP(M) No. 2355 of 2023, decided on 06.10.2023 and Relu Ram vs. State of H.P. Cr.MP(M) No. 1061 of 2023, decided on 15.05.2023. 12 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) 16. Therefore, the petitioner cannot be detained in custody based on a statement made by the co-accused, as the same does not constitute a legally admissible piece of evidence. 17. It was submitted that there was a huge financial transaction in the account of the petitioner, which corroborates the statements of the co-accused that the petitioner is dealing in Charas. The statements made by the co-accused are inadmissible, and once they are taken out of consideration, there is no explanation for the financial transaction in the petitioner’s account. It was laid down by the Kerala High Court in Amal E vs State of Kerala 2023:KER:39393 that financial transactions are not sufficient to connect the accused with the commission of a crime. It was observed: “From the perusal of the case records, it can be seen that, apart from the aforesaid transactions, there is nothing to show the involvement of the petitioners. It is true that the documents indicate the monetary transactions between the petitioners and some of the accused persons, but the question that arises is whether the said transactions were in connection with the sale of Narcotic drugs. To establish the same, apart from the confession statements of the accused, there is nothing. However, as it is an aspect to be established during the trial, I do not intend to enter into any finding at this stage, but the said aspect is sufficient to record the satisfaction of the conditions contemplated under section 37 of the NDPS Act, as the lack of such 13 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) materials evokes a reasonable doubt as to the involvement of the petitioner.” 18. Therefore, there is insufficient material to connect the petitioner with the commission of the crime. 19. It was submitted that the petitioner was involved in the commission of a similar offence earlier, and he is likely to commit the crime in case of his release on bail. This submission is not acceptable. The petitioner cannot be detained in custody merely because he was involved in the commission of the crime earlier. The prosecution has to make out a prima facie case to connect him with the commission of a crime, and he cannot be detained simply because he was arrested earlier. Therefore, this submission cannot help the prosecution. 20. It was submitted that the accused-Harjit Singh, made a disclosure statement that he could show the place where the Charas was sold to him by the petitioner, and a huge quantity of charas was recovered pursuant to the disclosure statement. This statement can only be used against the accused, Harjit Singh, and not against the petitioner. 21. Consequently, the present petition is allowed and the petitioner is ordered to be released on bail subject to his 14 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) furnishing bail bonds in the sum of ₹1,00,000/- with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court. While on bail, the petitioner will abide by the following conditions: (i) The petitioner will not intimidate the witnesses, nor will he influence any evidence in any manner whatsoever. (ii) The petitioner shall attend the trial and will not seek unnecessary adjournments. (iii) The petitioner will not leave the present address for a continuous period of seven days without furnishing the address of the intended visit to the concerned Police Station and the Court. (iv) The petitioner will surrender his passport, if any, to the Court; and (v) The petitioner will furnish his mobile number and social media contact to the Police and the Court and will abide by the summons/notices received from the Police/Court through SMS/WhatsApp/Social Media Account. In case of any change in the mobile number or social media accounts, the same will be intimated to the Police/Court within five days from the date of the change. 22. It is clarified that if the petitioner misuses the liberty or violates any of the conditions imposed upon him, the investigating agency shall be free to move the Court for cancellation of the bail. 15 Neutral Citation No. ( 2025:HHC:20631 ) 23. The observation made herein before shall remain confined to the disposal of the petition and will have no bearing, whatsoever, on the merits of the case. 24. The petition stands accordingly disposed of. A copy of this order be sent to the Jail Superintendent, District Jail Solan, (H.P.), and the learned Trial Court by FASTER. 25. A downloaded copy of this order shall be accepted by the learned Trial Court while accepting the bail bonds from the petitioner, and in case said Court intends to ascertain the veracity of the downloaded copy of the order presented to it, the same may be ascertained from the official website of this Court. (Rakesh Kainthla) 1st July 2025 Judge (Saurav pathania) Digitally signed by KARAN SINGH GULERIA Date: 2025.07.01 12:14:55 NPT