The Supreme Court granted regular bail to an accused booked under the NDPS Act after noting that he had remained in custody for over one year and that no witness had been examined despite framing of charge.
The Supreme Court, on May 5, granted regular bail to a man accused in an NDPS case involving nearly 22 kg of ganja.
A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan granted relief to the appellant-accused. The Court noted that he had remained in custody for more than one year. It also took note that the trial was unlikely to conclude soon.
Importantly, the Trial Court had already framed charge. However, not a single witness had been examined so far.
FIR Registered Under NDPS Act
The appellant faced proceedings in an FIR registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
The FIR invoked Sections 8(c), 20(b)(ii)(c) and 29(1) of the NDPS Act.
The case involved commercial quantity. Therefore, the High Court refused to grant bail to the accused.
Aggrieved by the refusal, the appellant approached the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Considers Delay In Trial
During the hearing, counsel for the appellant submitted that the accused had spent more than one year in jail.
Counsel also pointed out that the Trial Court had framed charge. Even so, the prosecution had not examined any witness.
Therefore, the Supreme Court considered the lack of progress in the trial. It then exercised discretion in favour of the appellant.
The observation shows that trial delay remained an important factor. Moreover, the Court considered continued custody without trial progress while granting bail.
Earlier Ruling On Trial Delay In NDPS Bail Cases
The order gains significance because of the recent ruling in State of Punjab v. Sukhwinder Singh @ Gora, 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 421.
In that case, a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Karol set aside the bail granted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The High Court had granted bail only on the ground of delay in trial. However, the Supreme Court held that delay alone cannot override the strict bail conditions under the NDPS Act.
The Court also stressed that Article 21 rights must be considered along with the statutory restrictions under the NDPS Act, especially in commercial quantity cases.
Section 37 NDPS Act And Bail Conditions
Section 37 of the NDPS Act imposes strict conditions for bail in serious NDPS cases.
First, the court must find reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty.
Second, the court must be satisfied that the accused is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
Therefore, courts must apply these twin conditions while considering bail in commercial quantity cases.
Case Details
Case Title: Rajadurai v. The State of Tamil Nadu
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 462
Court: Supreme Court of India
Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan
Relevant Law: Sections 8(c), 20(b)(ii)(c), 29(1) and 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985
Appearances
For the Petitioner: Mr. Narender Kumar Verma, AOR; Ms. Mahimai Antoni Jeyam, Advocate; Mr. Lenin K, Advocate; Mr. Abbas, Advocate; Mr. A. Lakshminarayanan, AOR; Mr. U. Kathiravan, Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR.
