IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Misc. No. M-18674 of 2010 Date of decision : 28.9.2010 Gurwinder Singh @ Rinku …. Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ….. Respondent Present : Mr. Rajeev Kataria, Advocate with Mr. C.S. Rana, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. VPS Sidhu, AAG, Punjab. *** S.S. SARON, J. Heard counsel for the parties. The petitioner seeks regular bail in a case registered against him for the offence under Section 20 of the NDPS Act. The FIR in the case has been registered on the basis of memo sent by SI Surender Mohan who along with other police officials were patrolling in a Govt. vehicle driven by HC Balwant Singh. They were present at Tarn Taran, Road Bye-pass Jandiala near Tej Restaurant. There two persons with their hair cut short came on foot and on seeing the police party, they started running back. SI Surender Mohan along with other police officials apprehended them. On inquiry, one of them gave his name as Gurwinder Singh @ Rinku (petitioner), while the other person disclosed his name as Gurdit Singh @ Raju. SI Surender Mohan informed them that he suspected that they were carrying some intoxicating substance and he offered to get them searched in the presence of some Gazetted Officer or a Magistrate. The accused then gave their consent to be searched in front of a Gazetted Officer, on which SI Surender Mohan called Hardev Singh, DSP, Jandiala Guru who came there after about 15-20 minutes along with his gunman. On search, SI Crl. Misc. No. M-18674 of 2010 [2] Surender Mohan found a plastic envelope from the pocket of the pajama of petitioner Gurwinder Singh @ Rinku which contained ‘charas’. On search of Gurdit Singh @ Raju, a plastic envelope containing dark brown colour ‘charas’ was found from the right side pocket of his pant. The ‘charas’ found from the petitioner Gurwinder Singh @ Rinku, on weighing, came to 1 kg out of which two samples of 10 gms each were prepared. The ‘charas’ recovered from the co-accused namely Gurdit Singh @ Raju was weighed and it came to 500 gms, out of which samples of 10 gms each were prepared. The co-accused of the petitioner namely Gurdit Singh @ Raju has been granted the concession of bail by this Court vide order dated 29.6.2010 passed in CRM No. M-8692 of 2010. The petitioner is in custody since 22.11.2009. He has been apprehended with 1 kg of ‘charas’. In Entry 23 of the notification dated 16.7.1996 specifying small and commercial quantity relating to ‘cannabis and cannabis resin’ as per column 6; 1 kg of charas, Hashish Extracts and Tinctures of Cannabis are mentioned to be commercial quantity. Learned counsel for the petitioner, however, submits that 1 kg of charas would not be commercial quantity as it is quantity greater than the quantity specified by the Central Government which would be taken as ‘commercial quantity’ in terms of Section 2(viia) of the NDPS Act Section 2(viia) provides that “commercial quantity”, in relation to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, means any quantity greater than the quantity specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette. He has also relied upon the decision in Vinod Chaudhary v. State of UT, Chandigarh, CRM No. M-13107 of 2010 decided on 16.7.2010 wherein relying on a Full Bench Judgment of Himachal Pradesh High Court in Ratto v. State of H.P., 2003 (3) Cri. C.C. 413 it was held that 1 Kg of ‘charas’ is “non- commercial”. There is no other case registered against the petitioner under the NDPS Act. The recovery as such cannot be said to be the commercial quantity. The co-accused of the petitioner has been granted the concession of bail. The trial in the case is likely to take time. Crl. Misc. No. M-18674 of 2010 [3] In the circumstances, the Crl. Misc. petition is allowed and the petitioner on his furnishing personal bond and surety to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court shall be admitted to bail. (S.S. SARON) JUDGE September 28, 2010 amit