Crl. Misc No. M-15918 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Misc No. M-15918 of 2009 Date of decision : 10.11.2009 Bhagwant Singh ....Petitioner V/s State of Punjab ....Respondent BEFORE : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. Inderjit Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Shailesh Gupta, DAG Punjab. RAJAN GUPTA J. (ORAL) This is a petition under Section 439 Cr.P.C. seeking pre-arrest bail to the petitioner in a case registered vide FIR No. 139 dated 12.09.2008 under Sections 15/25/61/85 of the NDPS Act at Police Station Nahianwala, District Bathinda. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that petitioner has been in custody for the last one year and trial has not been concluded till now. According to the counsel, trial is likely to take some time to conclude, no useful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody during the pendency of the trial. Learned counsel for the State has, however, opposed the prayer for grant of bail on the ground that contraband recovered from the petitioner is 80 kgs of poppy husk which is a commercial quantity. Learned counsel further submits that out of 10 prosecution witnesses, 05 have already been Crl. Misc No. M-15918 of 2009 2 examined and next date for recording of prosecution evidence is 20.11.2009. Keeping in view the fact that contraband recovered from the petitioner is commercial in nature, therefore, Section 37 of the Act would be attracted to the present case. Even otherwise, trial is proceeding at a fairly fast pace. Thus, no ground is made out to enlarge the petitioner on bail at this stage. Dismissed. 10.11.2009 (RAJAN GUPTA) Ajay JUDGE