Page No.# 1/6 GAHC010073842026 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : Bail Appln./1037/2026 DILARA BEGUM W/O- JAHANGIR ALOM CHOUDHURY. R/O- VILL.- MAIZGRAM, WARD NO. 10, P.S.- KARIMGANJ. DIST.- SRIBHUMI, ASSAM. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM REP BY THE PP, ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A AHMED, MR A AHMED,U U KHAN,MISS. P M AHMED,MR. M A CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANJAL DAS ORDER 07.05.2026 1. Heard Mr. A. Ahmed, learned counsel appearing for the accused petitioner as well as Mr. K. K. Parasar, learned Addl. P.P., Assam appearing for the State respondent. 2. This petition under Section 483 of the BNSS, 2023 has been filed by the accused-petitioner, namely, Dilara Begum, praying for grant of bail in connection with Karimganj P.S. Case No.319/2025 under Sections 22(C)/25/29 of Page No.# 2/6 NDPS Act. 3. The allegation in the ejahar dated 7/7/2025 is about receiving a secret information about the present petitioner and her husband dealing with illegal drugs and upon making GD entry, the husband of the petitioner was brought to the PS and interrogated and it was revealed that he and the present petitioner, his wife had been selling banned substances. Subsequently, upon search of their house, a significant quantity of of narcotic drugs in the form of Yaba tablets were found whereupon the case was registered and investigated. 4. It is submitted by the learned counsel that upon completion of investigation petitioner and her husband have been charge-sheeted but the trial has not yet started. The learned counsel submits that the arrest memo under Section 36 of BNSS bears no signature of witnesses. In support of the same a decision rendered by Coordinate Bench of this Court in BA No. 3202 of 2025 has been submitted. 5. The scanned TCR has been received. 6. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that notices under 47/48 have been furnished containing sufficient details regarding grounds of arrest, bilingually. However, he fairly submits that in the arrest memo he has not found signature of witnesses. 9. The learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to the seminal judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of D.K. Basu Vs State of W.B. reported in AIR 1997 SC 610. The relevant para-36 of D.K. Basu (supra) may be reproduced herein below:- “36. We therefore, consider it appropriate to issue the following Page No.# 3/6 requirements to be followed in all cases of arrest or detention till legal provisions are made in that behalf as preventive measures: (1) The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name togs with their designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register. (2) That the police officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest a such memo shall be attested by at least one witness who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be counter signed by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest. (3) A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police station or interrogation centre or other lock-up, shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee. (4) The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the legal Aid Organisation in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest. (5) The person arrested must be made aware of this right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon he is put under arrest or is detained. (6) An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is. (7) The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his/her body, must be recorded at that time. The "Inspection Page No.# 4/6 Memo" must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee. (8) The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctors appointed by Director, Health Services of the concerned Stare or Union Territory. Director, Health Services should prepare such a penal for all Tehsils and Districts as well. (9) Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to the illaqa Magistrate for his record. (10) The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation. (11) A police control room should be provided at all district and state headquarters, where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on a conspicuous notice board.” 10. Thus, I find from the above that, as per direction given in Para- 36 (2), the arresting Police Officer has to prepare a memo of arrest, which has to be signed by at least one witness who may be a family member of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality. Such arrest memo also has to be countersigned by the arrestee and indicate the date and time of arrest. 11. It has been held in D.K. Basu (supra) that these requirements which have been directed vide para-36 also flow from Article 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution of India and are required to be followed strictly. 12. The relevant Para 38 may be reproduced here:- “The requirements, referred to above flow from Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution and need to be strictly followed. These Page No.# 5/6 would apply with equal force to the other governmental agencies also to which a reference has been made earlier.” 14. The learned counsel further submits that the co-accused of the case and husband of the petitioner have been granted bail by the Coordinate Bench of this court vide order dated 12/12/25 in BA 3202/25 on the ground of not been produced before the JMFC within 24 hours as required by Article 22(1) of the Constitution of India. 15. As per the records, the date of arrest of the petitioner was 18/10/2025. It regrettable that in such a serious alleged offense, the Investigating Officer did not take the signature of witnesses which is statutorily required as per the law. The mandatory nature of the compliance of these matters has sufficiently crystallized at the time in October 2025 when the arrest was made and therefore, there were no excuses for failure in complying with the same. 16. Coming back to the facts of this case, in view of the infirmities in the arrest procedure discussed above, the present petitioner is also required to be granted bail. 17. Accordingly, it is provided that the accused petitioner, named above, shall be released on bail of Rs.75,000/- with one suitable surety of like amount to the satisfaction of learned concerned court subject to the following conditions that the petitioner: (a) shall not abscond; (b) shall not hamper or tamper with evidence; (c) shall not misuse his liberty to commit any illegal activity or offence, including any offence under the NDPS Act. Page No.# 6/6 Violation of bail condition shall entail cancellation of bail. 18. Accordingly, this bail application stands allowed and disposed of. 19. Return the case diary. JUDGE Comparing Assistant