1 2026:CGHC:27286 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 2876 of 2026 Kishan Kashyap @ Krishna Kumar S/o Late Revti Prasad Aged About 52 Years R/o Bamda, Police Station- Govindpur, District- Sambalpur (Odisha) Permanent R/o House No. 109 Ward No. 39, Kotra Road Vikas Nagar, Raigarh, P.S.- City Kotwali, Tahsil And District- Raigarh (C.G.) ... Applicant versus State of Chhattisgarh Through - Station House Officer, Police Station- City Kotwali, District- Raigarh (C.G.) ... Non-Applicant For Applicant : Mr. Ashish Gupta, Advocate. For Non-Applicant/State : Mr. Shubham Bajpai, Panel Lawyer. Hon'ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Order on Board 02.07.2026 1. This is the First Bail Application filed under Section 483 of the BNSS, 2023 for grant of regular bail to the applicant who has been arrested in connection with Crime No. 18/2025, registered at Police Station- City Kotwali, District- Raigarh, (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Sections 20-B,and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, the ‘NDPS Act’). 2. The prosecution story in brief, is that on 09.01.2025, the police of Police Station City Kotwali, Raigarh received secret information RAHUL DEWANGAN Digitally signed by RAHUL DEWANGAN 2 through a reliable informant that one Mahender Singh, along with his associate, namely the present applicant Kishan Kashyap @ Krishna Kumar, was transporting ganja in a grey coloured Swift Dzire car bearing registration No. CG-13-UC-5963 for the purpose of illegal sale. It was further informed that additional quantities of ganja were kept in three other vehicles, namely two Creta cars and one Tata Tigor car, parked at the rented house of Mahender Singh situated at Bande Ali Fatmi Nagar, House No. HIG-44, Raigarh. Acting upon the said information, the police conducted a raid and intercepted the Swift Dzire car near Circuit House Chowk. Mahender Singh was found driving the vehicle, while the present applicant, Kishan Kashyap @ Krishna Kumar, was travelling with him. After complying with the mandatory formalities under the NDPS Act, the police searched the dickey of the vehicle in the presence of independent witnesses and recovered 13 packets of ganja concealed in a white plastic sack. Thereafter, the police searched the other vehicles parked at the rented premises of Mahender Singh. From a Creta car bearing registration No. CG-12- BC-9751, driven by Harjeet Singh, 8 packets of ganja were recovered; from a Tata Tigor bearing registration No. CG-13-AJ- 8958, 58 packets of ganja were recovered; and from another Creta car bearing registration No. OD-23-E-4047, 32 packets of ganja were recovered. Thus, a total of 111 kilograms of ganja, constituting commercial quantity, was recovered and seized during the course of the raid. On the basis of the seizure and the material collected during investigation, the present applicant, Kishan Kashyap @ 3 Krishna Kumar, was found prima facie involved in the commission of the alleged offence, was arrested, and a charge-sheet was subsequently filed. Hence, the present bail application. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the earlier bail application of another co-accused namely Ajay Kumar Chouhan, being MCRC No. 3794/2025 was rejected by this Court vide order dated 09.06.2025 on merits, against which he preferred a regular bail application before the Hon’ble Apex Court as SLP (Cr.) No. 1318/2026, and the Hon’ble Apex Court granted bail to him vide order dated 16.03.2026. He also submits that the applicant has no previous criminal antecedents and he is in jail since 09.01.2025, the charge-sheet has been filed and the trial is likely to take some time for its conclusion. Therefore, he prays for grant of bail to the applicant on the ground of parity. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State opposes the bail application of the applicant and submits that the charge-sheet has been filed before the competent Court, but could not dispute the fact that co-accused person has already been granted bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the case of the present applicant is identical to that of the co-accused. 5. I have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the case diary. 6. Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case that the earlier bail application of another co-accused namely Ajay Kumar Chouhan, being MCRC No. 3794/2025 was rejected by this 4 Court vide order dated 09.06.2025 on merits, against which he preferred a regular bail application before the Hon’ble Apex Court as SLP (Cr.) No. 1318/2026, and the Hon’ble Apex Court granted bail to him vide order dated 16.03.2026, further the applicant has no previous criminal antecedents and he is in jail since 09.01.2025, the charge-sheet has been filed, therefore, this Court is of the view that the applicant is also entitled to be released on bail on the ground of parity. 7. Accordingly, the bail application of the applicant is allowed. Let the Applicant – Kishan Kashyap @ Krishna Kumar, involved in Crime No. 18/2025, registered at Police Station- City Kotwali, District- Raigarh, (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Sections 20-B,and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, be released on bail on furnishing personal bond with two local sureties in the like sum to the satisfaction of the Court concerned with the following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law. (ii) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of her absence, without sufficient 5 cause, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 269 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. (iii) In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure his presence, proclamation under Section 84 of BNSS. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the Court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under Section 209 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. (iv) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 351 of BNSS. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against him in accordance with law. 8. Office is directed to send a certified copy of this order to the trial Court concerned for necessary information and compliance forthwith. Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Rahul Dewangan