Rigors Of Bail U/S 37 Of NDPS Act Will Not Apply In Cases Of Intermediate Quantity: J&K High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court held that the rigors of bail under the NDPS Act will not apply where the contraband in question is of intermediate quantity. The court observed that the quantity recovered from the accused persons fell within the intermediate category and not the commercial quantity attracting the rigors of Section 37 of the Act.

A bench of Justice Javed Iqbal Wani relied heavily on the decision of a coordinate bench of the court in Firdous Ahmad Payer vs. State of J&K, wherein similar allegations regarding the recovery of 10 bottles of 100 ml of Codeine were considered. The court had held that the same fell within the intermediate quantity and not the commercial quantity.

The court also added that labeling the quantity as small or intermediate was intended to provide an escape route from the rigors of Section 37. It emphasized that had Parliament intended to treat small, intermediate, and commercial, at par with each other, it would not have classified them separately.

The reference was made to coordinate bench's observation stating that “The Courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction, and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and duly found guilty.”

The court granted bail to the accused upon furnishing a personal bond to the tune of ₹50,000/- with two sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.

BACKGROUND:

The police, while conducting a routine checkpoint search, stopped a vehicle occupied by the petitioner and the co-accused. During the search, 10 bottles of 100 ml each containing Codeine Phosphate and Tri-prolidine Hydrochloride were recovered from the petitioner, and 9 bottles from the co-accused. An FIR was registered under Sections 8, 21, and 29 of the NDPS Act.

The trial court granted bail to the co-accused but rejected the petitioner's bail application. The petitioner argued that the seized quantity was an intermediate quantity, and therefore, the rigors of bail under Section 37 would not apply.

The court granted bail to the petitioner after noting that the recovered quantity was indeed intermediate and not commercial. The court relied on the judgments of coordinate benches in making its decision and also observed that continued detention of the accused leads to pre-trial punishment unless it is necessary to ensure that the accused will stand trial when called upon.

APPEARANCE

Nusrat Razak, Advocate for petitioner

Hakim. Aman Ali, Dy. AG for Respondents

Case-title: ARSHID AHMAD GANIE vs UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR (HOME),

Citation: 2025 Livelaw (JKL) 68

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