55 02-01-2025 (ct. no. 29) KOLE Allowed CRM (NDPS) 1846 of 2024 In re: An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure/Section 483 of the BNSS in connection with Shyampukur Police Station Case No. 30 of 2022 dated 23.03.2022 under Sections 21(C)/29 of the NDPS Act. - A n d - In the matter of : Sk Tihad .... Petitioner. Mr. Ayan Bhattacharyya, Mr. Z. Uddin, Mr. A. Purohit, … For the Petitioner. Mr. Kaushik Kundu, Mr. K. Bapuli, … For the State. Order dictated by Arijit Banerjee, J.: 1. The petitioner renews his prayer for bail which was rejected twice earlier, firstly on February 7, 2023 and then on July 11, 2024. In the order dated July 11, 2024, it was recorded that while rejecting the petitioner’s prayer for bail a Coordinate Bench by its order dated February 7, 2023 had directed the learned Trial Court to conclude the trial as expeditiously as possible positively within a year from the date of that order. Noting that the time period granted yet to expire, this court by order dated July 11, 2024 rejected the petitioner’s prayer for bail. 2. The petitioner now says that the period of one year granted by the order dated February 7, 2023 is over. Only 2 out of 8 charge sheet named witnesses have been examined. He is in custody for about two years nine months. On the ground of delay in progress of trial, he prays for bail. 3. Learned State Advocate opposes the prayer for bail. He says that 263 grams of heroin i.e., much over the commercial Signed By : ABHIJIT KOLE High Court of Calcutta 2 nd of January 2025 04:56:08 PM 2 quantity, was seized from the joint possession of the accused persons including this petitioner. He further candidly admits that only 2 out of 8 charge sheet named witnesses have been examined till date. 4. We are conscious of the bar in Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985. However, we see that the petitioner is in custody for a long period of time and there is no appreciable progress in the trial. It is anybody’s guess when the trial will conclude. No under trial can be kept in incarceration indefinitely. 5. Hence, without touching the merits of the case and solely on the touchstone of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, we enlarge the petitioner on bail. 6. Accordingly, we direct that the petitioner, namely, Sk Tahid, shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs. 25,000/-, with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the Learned Special Judge under the NDPS Act, City Sessions Court, Calcutta subject to condition that he shall appear before the trial court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever and on further condition that the petitioner while on bail shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Shyampukur Police Station and shall meet the officer-in-charge of the concerned police station once every fortnight until further orders. 6. In the event the petitioner fails to adhere to any of the conditions stipulated above without justifiable cause, the trial court shall be at liberty to cancel the petitioner’s bail in accordance with law without further reference to this court. Signed By : ABHIJIT KOLE High Court of Calcutta 2 nd of January 2025 04:56:08 PM 3 7. The application for bail is, accordingly, allowed. 8. All parties shall act in terms of server copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court. ( Apurba Sinha Ray, J. ) ( Arijit Banerjee, J. ) Signed By : ABHIJIT KOLE High Court of Calcutta 2 nd of January 2025 04:56:08 PM