The Single Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of Laxman Thakur vs State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) consisting of Justice Jasmeet Singh held that rigors of Section 37 of the NDPS Act will not be applicable if the collection of the sample itself was faulty.
Facts
This application was filed seeking regular bail in an FIR u/s 20/29 of the NDPS Act registered at the PS Crime Branch.
Contentions Made
Petitioner: Relying on the seizure memo, it was contended that the procedure for collection of the sample was faulty and in violation of standing order 1/88 of the guidelines of NCB by mixing up the contraband found in the bags and taking samples thereafter.
Respondent: Relying on Sumit Tomar vs. The State of Punjab, it was contended that even after taking two samples each, the quantity measured was more than the commercial quantity (small quantity 1000 gm/commercial quantity 50 kg and above). So, the contention that the contrabands should not have been mixed was liable to be rejected.
Observations of the Court
The Bench opined that as mandated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Union of India vs. Bal Mukund & Ors., the standing order 1/88 has been opined to be a “requirement of the law”, which mandates that the transferring of the content of all packets into one and then drawing a sample from the mixture is not permitted. It further opined that the instructions in 1/88 have not been followed and the sample was drawn after mixing the contents of various packets into one container. This caused serious prejudice to the case of the applicant. Since the collection of the sample itself was faulty, the rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act will not be applicable.
Judgment
Considering that the applicant had been in custody since 26.02.2022 and had no criminal antecedents and no criminal cases of any nature pending against him, the Bench was inclined to allow the application along with certain directions. The applicant was to also furnish a personal bond and a surety bond in the sum of Rs. 25,000/- each, to the satisfaction of the Trial Court.
Case: Laxman Thakur vs State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi)
Citation: BAIL APPLN. 3233/2022
Bench: Justice Jasmeet Singh
Decided on: 14th December 2022
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