1 CGHC010260092026 2026:CGHC:29324 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 6189 of 2026 Mahendra Singh S/o Baba Singh Aged About 49 Years Occupation- Labour, R/o Chandmari, Raigarh, 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. Dhirendra Prasad Mishra, Advocate. For Non-Applicant/State : Mr. Sangharsh Pandey, Government Advocate. Hon'ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Order on Board 13.07.2026 1. This is the Second 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)(ii)(c) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, the 'NDPS Act'). 2. Earlier bail application of the applicant was rejected by this Court on 10.09.2025 passed in MCRC No. 6311/2025. PREETI KUMARI Digitally signed by PREETI KUMARI Date: 2026.07.14 16:56:04 +0530 2 3. As per the prosecution case, acting on information received from an informer, Sub-Inspector A.K. Devangan of Police Station City Kotwali conducted a raid on 09.01.2025 at Circuit House Road Chowk. A grey Swift Dzire bearing registration No. CG-13/UC-5969 was intercepted and searched. The driver disclosed his name as Mahendra Singh, while the passenger identified himself as Kishan Kashyap. After serving notice under Section 50 of the NDPS Act, the trunk of the vehicle was searched, resulting in the recovery of 13 packets of Ganja wrapped in grey plastic film and kept inside a white plastic bag. Thereafter, acting on the information furnished by the informer, the police searched a silver-grey Creta bearing registration No. CG-12/BC-9751 parked near rented House No. HIG-44 of accused Mahendra Singh. During the search, 08 packets of Ganja wrapped in muddy plastic film and kept inside a white plastic bag were recovered from the trunk, and a seizure panchnama was prepared. 4. On being questioned, accused Mahendra Singh disclosed that a silver- grey Tata Tigor bearing registration No. CG-13/AJ-8958 and a silver Creta bearing registration No. OD-23-E-4047 parked in the verandah of House No. HIG-44 belonged to him. Upon searching the Tata Tigor, 58 packets of Ganja packed in five white plastic bags were recovered from its trunk, while the search of the Creta bearing registration No. OD-23- E-4047 led to the recovery of 32 packets of Ganja packed in two plastic bags from its trunk. Thus, a total of 111 kg of Ganja was recovered and seized in the presence of witnesses. Thereafter, Crime No. 18/2025 was registered for the offences punishable under Sections 20(b) and 29 of the NDPS Act. The applicant/accused was arrested, his memorandum statement was recorded, his mobile phone was seized, the CDR of the seized mobile was obtained, other accused persons were arrested, and 3 upon completion of the investigation, the charge-sheet was filed before the competent Court. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that this is the second bail application, earlier bail application of the applicant being MCRC No. 6311/2025 was rejected by this Hon'ble Court vide order dated 10.09.2025 on merits. He further 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 further submits that another co-accused, namely, Kishan Kashyap @ Krishna Kumar, has been granted bail by this Court vide order dated 02.07.2026 passed in MCRC No. 2876 of 2026. He also submits that the second bail application of another co-accused, namely, Gopal Bhoy, has been allowed by this Court vide order dated 02.07.2026 passed in MCRC No. 3139 of 2026, further 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 second bail to the applicant on the ground of parity. 6. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State opposes the bail application and submits that the charge-sheet has already been filed before the competent Court. However, he could not dispute the fact that one of the co-accused person has been granted bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the other co-accused persons have been granted bail by this Court, and that the case of the present applicant is identical to that of the said co-accused persons. He further submits that the bail application of another co-accused, namely, Sheikh Babu, was rejected by 4 this Court vide order dated 08.07.2026 passed in MCRC No. 6034 of 2026 on the ground of his criminal antecedents under the NDPS Act. 7. I Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 8. Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case that this is the applicant's second bail application and that earlier bail application of the applicant being MCRC No. 6311/2025 was rejected by this Court vide order dated 10.09.2025 on merits, further 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, also considering the fact that another co-accused, namely, Kishan Kashyap @ Krishna Kumar, has been granted bail by this Court vide order dated 02.07.2026 passed in MCRC No. 2876 of 2026 and the second bail application of another co-accused, namely, Gopal Bhoy, has been allowed by this Court vide order dated 02.07.2026 passed in MCRC No. 3139 of 2026, further 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, this Court is of the view that the applicant is also entitled to be released on second bail on the ground of parity. 9. Accordingly, the second bail application is allowed. Let the applicant - Mahendra Singh involved in Crime No. 18/2025, registered at Police Station- City Kotwali, District - Raigarh, (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)(c) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, the 'NDPS Act'), be released on bail on 5 his furnishing a personal bond with two 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 his absence, without sufficient 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. 6 10. Office is directed to provide a certified copy of this order to the trial Court concerned for necessary information and compliance forthwith. - Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Preeti