sg 1 BA1249_11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1249 OF 2011 Manchand @ Manu Bhagatram Chhada ... Applicant Versus The State of Maharashtra ... Respondent Shri Manoj J. Bhatt, Advocate for Applicant. Smt. P.P. Shinde, APP for the Respondent State. CORAM : J. H. BHATIA, J. DATE : 22nd NOVEMBER, 2011 P. C. : The applicant is accused No.8 in Crime No.30/2010 registered with Kapur Bavdi Police Station, Thane, for the offences punishable u/s. 8(c), 20(2), 22, 25 and 29 of the N.D.P.S. Act. 2. Prosecution case in brief is that on 4.4.2010 a truck No.HP 55 C 9466 came from Patripul in Himachal Pradesh and was proceeding towards Mumbai. Apparently, it was loaded with apples. However, in view of the information received, the truck was searched and 376 kgs. 210 grams of charas was recovered from 12 boxes in the Truck. Accused Rakesh and Gagan, who are in transport business had arranged the said truck for the absconding accused Tejram. The goods in the truck were of Tejram. According to prosecution, Tejram had sent said charas for selling in the local market in Mumbai with the help of present applicant Manchand @ Manu, one Karamchand @ Commando and one Vashwar Mukherjee. Vashwar Mukherjee was allegedly dealing in the business of charas or other narcotic drug. The present applicant was allegedly facilitating such deals by contacting the parties on phone. sg 2 BA1249_11 3. According to prosecution, accused Vashwar Mukherjee had contacted the present applicant from his mobile No.9892672928 on mobile Nos. 9882336169 and 9816371469. Investigating Officers collected data to show that accused No.1 had contacted from his mobile on these two mobiles. According to prosecution, these mobile numbers were used by the present applicant. On the last date, this Court had directed the prosecution to find out the material connecting the present applicant with those two mobile numbers. Today, Senior Police Inspector has submitted the report through the Additional Public Prosecutor which shows that the police party had been to Himachal Pradesh and have recorded statements but they could not find any material to show that the present applicant had used any of those two mobiles. 4. Learned APP contends that in his statement one Rakesh Lakshminarayan Sharma, who is a Postman from District Kullu, in Himachal Pradesh, recorded on 4.3.2011, stated that he had heard a talk among the present applicant, accused Gagan Awasthi, accused Karamchand @ Commando and Tejram sometimes in the last week of March 2010 and accused Tejram had told the other three accused that he was having huge quantity of charas and they should find some customer and the present applicant had told him that he had a friend namely Vashwar Mukherjee at Mumbai, who deals in such business and that he would contact him on phone and he would find some customer. This statement was recorded about one year after seizure of the goods and three months after arrest of the present applicant. The learned APP also tried to place reliance on confessional statement of Vahwar Mukherjee recorded by the Investigating Officer but that statement is not even relied upon by the prosecution by filing with charge-sheet. 5. Taking into consideration the material noted above, at this stage, it can be said that the applicant may not be involved in the commission of the offence in the present case. I hasten to add that normally while deciding the sg 3 BA1249_11 bail application this Court is not expected to make any observations about the merits of the case. However, it is necessary in the present case because of the requirements of section 37 N.D.P.S. Act that the Court should be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of the offence. 6. Therefore, the applicant be released on his executing P.R. of Rs. 1 lac with one or two sureties to make up the amount with a condition that he will not tamper with the evidence and shall report at Police Station, Jaan Taluka, District Kulu, Himachal Pradesh, where the applicant resides, on every Monday between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. till end of the trial of the case. (J. H. BHATIA, J)