1 CRM-M-10063-2025 222 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CRM-M-10063-2025 DECIDED ON: 29.07.2025 RAM KUMAR @ RAMU .....PETITIONER VERSUS STATE OF HARYANA .....RESPONDENT CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MOUDGIL Present: Mr. Vishal Sharda, Advocate for the petitioner. Ms. Mayuri Lakhanpal Kalia, DAG, Haryana. **** SANDEEP MOUDGIL, J (ORAL) Prayer This is the fourth petition filed under Section 483 of BNSS seeking regular bail in FIR No.162, dated 11.07.2020, under Section 22(C) of NDPS Act registered at Police Station Kalanwali, District Sirsa. 2. Contentions: On behalf of the petitioner Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submits that a highly improbable and concocted story has been put up by the prosecution wherein 5000 tablets of Tramadol Hydrochloride were recovered from a plastic sack allegedly lying on the fuel tank of the motorcycle of the petitioner. The investigation in the present case is complete and nothing remains to be recovered from the petitioner. It is further submitted that till now, only 03 out of 15 witnesses cited by the prosecution, have been examined so SONIA BURA 2025.07.30 10:16 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 2 CRM-M-10063-2025 far. The trial will take considerable long time to conclude. The petitioner is in judicial custody since 28.08.2023 and no useful purpose would be served by keeping him behind bars. The petitioner is not involved in any other case. On behalf of the State Learned State counsel has filed the custody certificate of the petitioner, which are taken on record. According to the custody certificate, the petitioner is behind the bars for the last 02 years, 03 months and 24 days. However, learned State counsel is not able to controvert that only three out of 15 prosecution witnesses have been examined till date. 3. Analysis Be that as it may, considering the fact that nothing remains to be recovered from the possession of the petitioner and after framing of charges on 17.05.2021, only three witnesses out of 15 have been examined so far, which sufficient for this Court to infer that trial is moving at snail’s pace, this Court is of the view that detaining the petitioner behind the bars for an indefinite period would serve no purpose, wherein “bail is a rule and jail is an exception” and it would also violate the principle of right to speedy trial and expeditious disposal under Article 21 of Constitution of India, as has been time and again discussed by this Court, while relying upon the judgment of the Apex Court passed in Dataram Singh vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. 2018(2) R.C.R. (Criminal) 131. Relevant paras of the said judgment is reproduced as under:- “2. A fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of innocence, meaning thereby that a person is believed to be innocent until found guilty. However, there are instances in our criminal law where a reverse onus has been placed on an accused with regard to some specific offences but that is another matter and does SONIA BURA 2025.07.30 10:16 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 3 CRM-M-10063-2025 not detract from the fundamental postulate in respect of other offences. Yet another important facet of our criminal jurisprudence is that the grant of bail is the general rule and putting a person in jail or in a prison or in a correction home (whichever expression one may wish to use) is an exception. Unfortunately, some of these basic principles appear to have been lost sight of with the result that more and more persons are being incarcerated and for longer periods. This does not do any good to our criminal jurisprudence or to our society. 3. There is no doubt that the grant or denial of bail is entirely the discretion of the judge considering a case but even so, the exercise of judicial discretion has been circumscribed by a large number of decisions rendered by this Court and by every High Court in the country. Yet, occasionally there is a necessity to introspect whether denying bail to an accused person is the right thing to do on the facts and in the circumstances of a case. 4. While so introspecting, among the factors that need to be considered is whether the accused was arrested during investigations when that person perhaps has the best opportunity to tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses. If the investigating officer does not find it necessary to arrest an accused person during investigations, a strong case should be made out for placing that person in judicial custody after a charge sheet is filed. Similarly, it is important to ascertain whether the accused was participating in the investigations to the satisfaction of the investigating officer and was not absconding or not appearing when required by the investigating officer. Surely, if an accused is not hiding from the investigating officer or is hiding due to some genuine and expressed fear of being victimised, it would be a factor that a judge would need to consider in an appropriate case. It is also necessary for the judge to consider whether the accused is a first-time offender or has been accused of other offences and if so, the nature of such offences and his or her general conduct. The poverty or the deemed indigent status of an accused is also an extremely important factor and even Parliament has taken notice of it by incorporating an Explanation to section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. An equally soft approach to incarceration has been taken by Parliament by inserting section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 5. To put it shortly, a humane attitude is required to be adopted by a judge, while dealing with an application for remanding a suspect or an accused person to police custody or judicial custody. There are several reasons for this SONIA BURA 2025.07.30 10:16 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 4 CRM-M-10063-2025 including maintaining the dignity of an accused person, howsoever poor that person might be, the requirements of Article 21 of the Constitution and the fact that there is enormous overcrowding in prisons, leading to social and other problems as noticed by this Court in In Re-Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons, 2017(4) RCR (Criminal) 416: 2017(5) Recent Apex Judgments (R.A.J.) 408 : (2017) 10 SCC 658. 6. The historical background of the provision for bail has been elaborately and lucidly explained in a recent decision delivered in Nikesh Tara chand Shah v. Union of India, 2017 (13) SCALE 609 going back to the days of the Magna Carta. In that decision, reference was made to Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State of Punjab, (1980) 2 SCC 565 in which it is observed that it was held way back in Nagendra v. King-Emperor, AIR 1924 Calcutta 476 that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment. Reference was also made to Emperor v. Hutchinson, AIR 1931 Allahabad 356 wherein it was observed that grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception. The provision for bail is therefore age-old and the liberal interpretation to the provision for bail is almost a century old, going back to colonial days. 7. However, we should not be understood to mean that bail should be granted in every case. The grant or refusal of bail is entirely within the discretion of the judge hearing the matter and though that discretion is unfettered, it must be exercised judiciously and in a humane manner and compassionately. Also, conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory.” Therefore, to elucidate further, this Court is conscious of the basic and fundamental principle of law that right to speedy trial is a part of reasonable, fair and just procedure enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. This constitutional right cannot be denied to the accused as is the mandate of the Apex court in “Balwinder Singh versus State of Punjab and Another”, SLP (Crl.) No.8523/2024. Relevant paras of the said judgment reads as under:- “7. An accused has a right to a fair trial and while a hurried trial is frowned upon as it may not give sufficient SONIA BURA 2025.07.30 10:16 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 5 CRM-M-10063-2025 time to prepare for the defence, an inordinate delay in conclusion of the trial would infringe the right of an accused guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. 8. It is not for nothing the Author Oscar Wilde in “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”, wrote the following poignant lines while being incarcerated: “I know not whether Laws be right, Or whether Laws be wrong; All that we know who be in jail Is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, A year whose days are long.” 4. Relief: In light of the above, the petitioner is directed to be released on regular bail on his furnishing bail and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate, concerned. The present petition is, hereby, allowed. (SANDEEP MOUDGIL) 29.07.2025 JUDGE Sonia Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No SONIA BURA 2025.07.30 10:16 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document