Page No.# 1/6 GAHC010078752026 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : Bail Appln./1070/2026 TUSHAR SAHA ALIAS TUSHER SAHA AND 3 ORS. SON OF LATE PRADIP SAHA RESIDENT OF VILL- PHULBARI, P.S. PHULBARI, DIST. WEST GARO HILLS, MEGHALAYA. 2: TAHAJ ALI @ TAHAZ ALI SON OF JAMADER ALI RESIDENT OF VILL- KATIARALGA PART-III P.S. SOUTH SALMARA DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM. 3: DULAL ALI @ DULLAL ALI SON OF LATE SAHAR ALI RESIDENT OF VILL- KATIARALGA PART-IV P.S. SOUTH SALMARA DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM. 4: NUR JAMAL HAQUE @ NURZZAMAL HOQUE R/O VILL- KATIARALGA PART-III P.S. SOUTH SALMARA DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM REPRESENTED BY THE PP, ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A CHAUDHURY, MR. D BORA,MR. N MAHAJAN,MR. P K DAS Page No.# 2/6 Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, B E F O R E HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV KUMAR SHARMA ORDER 24.04.2026 Heard Mr. A. Choudhury, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. K.K. Das, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State. 2. This is an application filed under Section 483 of the BNSS, 2023, praying for the grant of bail to the accused/petitioner who have been arrested on 05.04.2026 in connection South Salmara P.S. Case No. 51/2026 u/s 61(2)/303(2)/317(2)/318(4)/336(3)/3(5) of BNS, r/w Section 53(1)(a)/54 of Assam Excise Act, 2000. 3. The facts of the case are that on 04.04.2026, the informant lodged an FIR before the Officer-in-Charge of South Salmara Police Station alleging inter-alia that on 03.04.2026 at 11:30 PM credible information received from a reliable source that one four wheeler PICK UP van bearing Registration No. ML 14 1644 loaded with illegal Indian Made Foreign Liquor(IMFL) was spotted at Dhenerkhutti L&T Bridge which was proceeding toward South Salmara L&T Ferry Ghat. Upon receiving the information at about 11:45 PM, a night patrolling Page No.# 3/6 team led by the informant, pursued the said vehicle from L&T Dhenarkhutti and they successfully intercepted the vehicle at South Salmara L&T Ferry Ghat. During the inspection, they found the vehicle was loaded with IMFL cartons on its carrier. They managed to apprehend the four individuals at the scene. However, the driver managed to flee from the spot taking the advantage of darkness. During questioning, the apprehended individuals could not produce any valid documents in regard of possession of IMFL and identified themselves as (1) Tushar Saha, (2) Tahaj Ali, (3) Dulal Ali and (4) Nur Jamal Haque and the name of the driver of the vehicle Samu Das @ Shamu. During further interrogation, the suspects revealed that they had procured IMFL liquor from Phulbari Market (Meghalaya) and were taking it towards ferry ghat so that they deliver the consignment to one Modal Ali, who is allegedly involved in transporting the IMFL liquor towards Indo-Bangladesh Border via river route. On 04.04.2026 at 1:36 AM the total 32 Nos. cartons of IMFL liquor total approx value of Rs. 1,80,000/- and 3 Nos. of mobile handsets were seized along with the vehicle and hence the case. 4. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that as per the seizure list, the seizure was recorded at 1:36 am on 04.04.2026 and from that point of time, he was in effective custody of the police. The accused/petitioner was subsequently produced before the Magistrate only on 05.04.2026 with the forwarding report Page No.# 4/6 showing the time of arrest as 05.04.2026 at 8:45 pm. 5. The aforesaid facts are not disputed. Therefore, it is apparent that the petitioner was in police custody from 01:36 am on 04.04.2026. It is not anybody's case that the petitioner was at liberty to leave after the seizure at 01:36 am on that date. 6. The petitioner contends that he ought to have been produced within 24 hours of his effective detention (i.e., from 01:36 am on 13.02.2026), which expired at 01:36 am on the following day i.e., 05.04.2026, excluding the time required for travel from the place of occurrence to the Magistrate. In the instant case, despite having the petitioner in effective custody since 01:36 am on 04.04.2026 after completing the seizure, the police failed to produce him before the nearest Magistrate throughout the day of 04.04.2026, excluding time required to traverse the distance between the place of occurrence in L&T Ferry Ghat, South Salmara and the Magistrate’s Court at Hatsingimari which would not be more than one hour. 7. Upon perusal of the record, I find merit in the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner. 8. Since the petitioner was effectively detained at 01:36 am on 04.04.2026, he ought to have been produced before the nearest Magistrate by 01:36 am on Page No.# 5/6 05.04.2026. Even allowing for travel time, he should have been brought before the Duty Magistrate by 02:31 am at the latest, in the event of a failure to produce him during court hours on 04.04.2026. 9. In the case of Directorate of Enforcement Vs Subhash Sharma reported in AIR Online (2025) Supreme Court 355, the Apex Court had held that the arrest gets vitiated on completion of 24 hours in custody without being produced before the nearest magistrate. The Court further held that once a Court while dealing with the bail application finds that the fundamental rights of the accused under Article 21 & 22 of the Constitution of India have been violated while arresting the accused or after arresting him, it is the duty of the Court dealing with the bail application to release the accused on bail. The reason is that the arrests in such cases stand vitiated. 10. This Court therefore is of the opinion that, the arrest and remand of the petitioner was in violation of the rights guaranteed to the petitioner under the provisions of Article 22 of the Constitution of India. 11. In the aforesaid circumstances, this Court is of the view that strict conditions of releasing the petitioner on bail are required to be imposed to ensure his participation in the investigation and also to ensure that he appears before the Learned Trial Court as and when and if the petitioner is put up for Page No.# 6/6 trial. This court therefore directs that the petitioner be released on bail on furnishing a bond of Rs 50,000/- (rupees fifty thousand) each with two suitable sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the Learned Elaka Magistrate under the following conditions: i) The petitioner shall not hamper and tamper with the evidence of the case; ii) The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any police officer. 12. Bail petition stands allowed. JUDGE Comparing Assistant