Court ‘regrets’ bail for men booked under Narcotics Act

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court dismissed the bail application of two accused, booked by the Madurai police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) for possessing contraband.

The single judge, who refused bail also said that he regretted for having passed an order on an earlier occasion releasing the two accused on bail in a case of similar nature.

Justice S Vaidyanathan heard the bail application of S Satheeshkumar and J Ramesh of Madurai. The petitioners wanted bail citing three orders passed by the Madurai bench including an order passed by Justice Vaidyanathan. But, the judge dismissed the petition based on a judgment of the Supreme Court produced by the prosecution.

Then he said, "Had the judgment been brought to my knowledge earlier while hearing the case cited by the petitioners, I would not have released those petitioners on bail, as I was not assisted properly in the said case. With a painful heart I had granted bail in that case. Anyhow, I have no hesitation to record my deep regret for having passed the said order based on the implicit faith in the representation of the counsel on either side, but it was proved to be wrong otherwise."

The judge further said, "I am also sure that if the same judgment had been brought to the notices of my brother judges, who granted bail to the petitioners in the other two cases they would not have let off the accused fleeing from justice. Anyhow, we are bound to maintain judicial discipline. The prosecution also represented it has moved a petition to cancel the bail granted by me."

Besides, the judge also said that Justice V R Krishna Iyer's principle laid down in the Supreme Court judgment in the Gudikanti Narasimhulu case in 1978 that bail is the rule and jail is the exception, which has been followed by various courts even now could not be said to be precedent for ever, more specifically after the enactment of special statues like the NDPS Act.

Taking note of all the factors and the serious nature of offences alleged to have been committed by Satheeshkumar and Ramesh, the court was not inclined to grant bail to them, the judge said and dismissed their petition.