New Delhi:The Supreme Court has quashed a Madras High Court order granting anticipatory bail to an accused in a narcotics case, saying that the condition imposed by the High Court is “totally alien to the principles governing bail jurisprudence” and is “nothing short of perversity”.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta quashed the anticipatory bail granted to B Ramu in a case related to the recovery of 232.5 kg of ganja. The bench, in a judgement delivered on February 12, said the Madras High Court order is “cryptic and perverse on the face of the record and cannot be sustained. Thus, the same is quashed and set aside”. The apex court directed Ramu to surrender before the trial court within 10 days.
The apex court noted that for entertaining a prayer for bail in a case involving the recovery of commercial quantities of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, the court would have to mandatorily record the satisfaction in terms of the rider contained in Section 37 of the NDPS Act.
“Manifestly, a very strange approach has been adopted by the single judge in the impugned order whereby the anticipatory bail was granted to the respondent on the condition that the appellant would deposit a sum of Rs 30,000 to the credit of the registered Tamil Nadu Advocates Clerk Association, Chennai, along with various other conditions”, said the apex court.
Justice Mehta, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said the condition imposed by the High Court is “alien to the principles governing bail jurisprudence and is nothing short of perversity”. Justice Mehta stressed in case of recovery of such a huge quantity of narcotic substance, the courts should be slow in granting even regular bail to the accused. “What to talk of anticipatory bail more so when the accused is alleged to be having criminal antecedents”, he said.