Extracted from the PDF above. The PDF is authoritative.
2026:HHC:31208 IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA. Cr.MP (M) No. 1403 of 2026 Decided on : 28th July, 2026 Veer Chand
…Applicant Versus State of Himachal Pradesh …Respondent Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Virender Singh, Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 For the applicant : Mr. H.S. Rana, Advocate. For the respondent : Mr. Tejasvi Sharma, Additional Advocate General and Mr. Rohit Sharma, Deputy Advocate General. Virender Singh, Judge ApplicantVeer Chand, has filed the present application, under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the 'BNSS'), with a prayer to release him on interim bail for a period of one month, in case FIR No.65 of 2024, dated 18.03.2024, registered under Sections 21, 29, 8C and 27A6185 of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic 1 Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes. 2 2026:HHC:31208 Substances Act (hereinafter referred to as the ‘NDPS Act’), with Police Station Nalagarh, District Solan, H.P.
2. According to the applicant, he has been involved, in the present case, on the statement of Nand Lal, who is father of the main accused Suresh Kumar, in which, he has alleged to the police that the contraband belongs to the applicant and he has paid a sum of Rs.27,000/ to Suresh Kumar on 15.3.2024. 3. It is the further case of the applicant that there is alleged transaction of Rs.3,55,502/, from 30.09.2023 to
15.03.2024. 4. Elaborating his case, it is the further case of the applicant that he is doing the business of Halwayi (Sweet Shop) and used to hire, the vehicle of Suresh Kumar for transporting the material of the shop. 5. According to the applicant, in fact, he has no connection with accused Mahaveer, nor, any payment has been made to him. 6. As per the applicant, he is in judicial custody and nothing is to be recovered from his possession or at
3 2026:HHC:31208 his instance. The investigation, in the present case, is stated to be complete. 7. As per the applicant, his sister Smt. Rachna Devi wife of Sh. Bhagat Ram, resident of Village Kirpalpur, Tehsil Nalagarh, District Solan, H.P., expired on
19.07.2026. The last religious rites and ceremonies connected with her death are scheduled as Dasai on 28.07.2026, Kriya Karam on 31.07.2026 and Dharam Shanti on 02.08.2026.
The applicant being real brother of the deceased is required to perform the afterdeath ceremonies. 8. Apart from this, Mr. H.S. Rana, learned counsel appearing for the applicant, has given certain undertakings, on behalf of the applicant, for which, the applicant is ready to abide by, in case, ordered to be released, on bail. 9. On the basis of the above facts, a prayer has been made to allow the application. 10. When put to notice, the police has filed the status report disclosing therein, that on 18.3.2024, SDPO Nalagarh, along with other police officials, was
4 2026:HHC:31208 present at village Vodala. They had put the picketing to prevent the trafficking of illicit liquor, in view of the ensuing Lok Sabha Election. They were checking the vehicles crossing from that spot. 10.1. At about, 06.30. p.m., from Ratyod side, one person was noticed coming on foot, who, on inquiry, disclosed his name as Joginder Singh son of Shri Mast Ram. He has also disclosed that he is Ward Member of Ward No.11, of Gram Panchayat Dabhota. 10.2. In the meanwhile, from Ratyod side, at about 6.35 p.m. one Pickup vehicle bearing No.HP939431 Marka Tata Yodha, being driven by its driver, was found coming. The SDPO has signalled him to stop, but, the driver, at once tried to reverse the vehicle. Consequently, with the help of police officials, the vehicle was intercepted and was stopped. The driver was found to be perplexed. 10.3. On inquiry, the driver disclosed his name as Suresh Kumar son of Shri Nand Lal, but, could not give the satisfactory answers to the queries, as such, on the basis of suspicion, the vehicle was searched, but, nothing incriminating was found. 5 2026:HHC:31208
10.4. Keeping in view the fact that the driver was perplexed, a suspicion raised, in the mind of the SDPO, that he might be concealing something illegal, in his vehicle.
Consequently, the bonnet of the vehicle was opened and on the conductor side of the bonnet, five carton boxes were found to be concealed. ‘Diphenoxylate Hydrochloride & Atropine Sulphate Tablets IP Lomotil’ was found to be written on every box. 10.5. The SDPO, with the help of police officials opened those boxes and total 28140/ tablets of Lomotil were found. The said person i.e. Suresh Kumar, could not produce any document to transport the same. 10.6. Consequently, the said contraband was taken into possession and rukka was sent to the Police Station for registration of the FIR. Accused was arrested. 11. After completion of the codal formalities, the contraband, so recovered, was sent to SFSL Junga. During the Police custody, the accused was taken to Sikandra Pharmacy (Agra), Agra, where, Mahabir Singh, was associated and arrested. 6 2026:HHC:31208
12. It is the further case of the police that on 12.8.2024, Nand Lal, father of accused Suresh Kumar, made a complaint to the police that the contraband, which was allegedly found from the possession of his son was meant for being delivered to Veer Chand (applicant) and for that, according to the father of Suresh Kumar, on 15.3.2024, Veer Chand has transferred a sum of Rs.27,000/ in the account of his son. 13. Consequently, the Bank statement of Suresh Kumar was obtained and on perusing the same, the said fact was found to be correct. 14. Thereafter, CDR was also obtained and on checking the CDR of mobile phone of accused Suresh Kumar, from 1.2.2024 to 18.3.2024, from the mobile phone of accused Suresh Kumar, 26 calls were found to be made to the mobile number of Veer Chand (applicant). On 15/16.03.2024, accused Veer Chand (applicant) was found to be in touch with accused Suresh Kumar. 15. On 12.8.2024, Veer Chand was associated in the investigation and was arrested. Thereafter, the statement of Bank account of Veer Chand (applicant) was
7 2026:HHC:31208 obtained.
Till 14.08.2024, in the bank account of applicant Veer Chand, a sum of Rs.5,35,918/ was found as balance, whereas, in the same Bank, he was having the FDs total amounting to Rs.17,30,538/. Relevant documents were taken into possession and accused were arrested. 16. It has also been found, in the investigation, that from 30.11.2023 to 15.3.2024, applicant Veer Chand from his Bank account, maintained in Union Bank of India, Nalagarh, has transferred a sum of Rs.3,55,502/ through online transfer to Bank Account of Suresh Kumar, which was maintained in State Bank of India, Nalagarh Branch. 17. Similarly, It has also been found that from the Bank account of accused Suresh Kumar, from 30.11.2023 to 17.3.2024, a sum of Rs.4,23,060/ has been found to be transferred in the Bank account of Mahaveer, who, as per the police report, was running a medical store in Sikandra (Agra). 18. As per the police report, investigation, qua the amount, found in the account of Veer Chand (applicant) is still going on. 8 2026:HHC:31208
19. On all these submissions, a prayer has been made to dismiss the application. 20. At this stage, there is nothing on the record to probabilize the stand of the applicant that he used to hire the vehicle of accused Suresh Kumar, for transporting the goods, required for his Sweet Shop. 21. If the facts and circumstances of the present case are seen, in its entirety, then, as per the allegations of the Police, firstly, the amount was transferred from the account of applicant Veer Chand to the account of accused Suresh and thereafter, the same was stated to be transferred to the account of accused Mahaveer, who is running a medical store at Sikandra (Agra), who has also been arrested in this case. 22. The contraband, allegedly recovered, in this case, is 28140 tablets of Lomotil, which falls within the definition of ‘commercial quantity’. 23.
Once, it has been held that the contraband allegedly recovered from the possession of the accused falls in the category of ‘commercial quantity’, as per the
9 2026:HHC:31208 Notification issued by the Central Government, then, the rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act come into play. 24. As stated above, by way of present application, applicant has sought interim bail in order to attend the last rites of his deceased sister Smt. Rachna Devi wife of Sh. Bhagat Ram, resident of Village Kirpalpur, Tehsil Nalagarh, District Solan, H.P., who has expired on 19.07.2026 and as per the bail application, her Dasai was scheduled on 28.07.2026, Kriya Karam on 31.07.2026 and Dharam Shanti Bhog on 02.08.2026. 25. Since, the applicant is seeking the interim bail, as such, considering the above facts and circumstances, this Court is of the view that the applicant is able to make out a case for releasing him on interim bail. 26. Consequently, the applicant is ordered to be released, on interim bail for 15 days i.e. w.e.f. 30.07.2026 to 14.08.2026, arising out of FIR No. 65/2024, dated 18.03.2024, under Sections 21, 29, 8C, 27A of ND&PS Act, registered with Police Station Nalagarh, District Solan, H.P. on his furnishing personal bonds in the sum of
10 2026:HHC:31208 Rs. 50,000/, with one surety of the like amount, to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court. 27. This order, however, shall be subject to the following conditions: a) The applicant shall regularly attend the trial Court on each and every date of hearing and if prevented by any reason to do so, seek exemption from appearance by filing the appropriate application; b) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence nor hamper the investigation of the case in any manner whatsoever; c) The applicant shall not make any inducement, threat or promises to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Court or the Police Officer; and d) The applicant shall not leave the territory of India without the prior permission of the Court. 28. The applicant is directed to surrender before the jail authorities at 5:00 pm on 14.08.2026. 29.
Any of the observations, made hereinabove, shall not be taken, as an expression of opinion, on the merits of the case, as these observations are confined, only to the disposal of the present bail application. 11 2026:HHC:31208
30. It is made clear that respondentState is at liberty to move an appropriate application, in case, any of the bail conditions is found violated by the applicant. 31. The Registry is directed to forward a soft copy of the bail order to the Superintendent of Jail, Central Jail Solan, District Solan, H.P., through email, with a direction to enter the date of grant of bail in the eprison software. (Virender Singh) Judge 28th July, 2026 (Pramod Kumar) PRADEEP Digitally signed by PRADEEP Date: 2026.07.28 17:21:27 +0530