Crl. Misc. No. M-9927 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Case No. : Crl. Misc. No. M-9927 of 2009 Date of Decision : August 18, 2009 Gurpreet Singh @ Gopi .... Petitioner Vs. State of Punjab .... Respondent CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L. N. MITTAL * * * Present : Mr. J. B. S. Gill, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, AAG, Punjab. * * * L. N. MITTAL, J. (Oral) : Gurpreet Singh @ Gopi has filed this petition for bail in case FIR No. 68 dated 20.04.2007, under Section 15 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short – the Act), registered at Police Station Garhshankar, District Hoshiarpur. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case file. According to the prosecution version, 120 kilograms of poppy husk was recovered from the petitioner and his two co-accused Gurdev Singh @ Gurdev Ram @ Jhali and Kewal Krishan. Petitioner and Gurdev Singh were not apprehended at the spot whereas Kewal Krishan was Crl. Misc. No. M-9927 of 2009 2 apprehended at the spot. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner is juvenile and was under 16 years of age at the time of alleged occurrence because his date of birth is 12.05.1991 as per school certificate (Annexure P-1) and the occurrence took place on 20.04.2007. Learned State counsel, after seeking instructions from HC Gurnek Singh, states that school certificate (Annexure P-1) has since been verified. In addition to the aforesaid, learned counsel for the petitioner states that petitioner's co- accused Gurdev Singh, who was also declared Proclaimed Offender, has since been granted bail vide order dated 26.09.2008 (Annexure P-2), although he was not even juvenile. It was also contended that the other co- accused Kewal Krishan, who was apprehended at the spot, has also since been granted bail. The petitioner is in custody since 01.10.2008 i.e. for more than 10 months. This factual position is not controverted by learned State counsel after seeking instructions. In view of the aforesaid, without meaning to comment anything on merits, the instant bail petition is allowed. Bail to the satisfaction of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate, Hoshiarpur. August 18, 2009 ( L. N. MITTAL ) monika JUDGE