9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (2) TMI 155X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the night of 13-11-1997 was intercepted by the respondent and on examination, it was found containing 382.043 Kgs. of Mandrax tablets and 14.618 Kgs. of white powder in 10 packages. Further investigation led to the discovery of the following facts :- M/s. Sriram Leather Exports is a non-existing company. All the accused entered into a conspiracy to export the Mandrax Tablets which is a psychotropic substance from India to South Africa. An earlier attempt was made during October, 1997 to illegally export the narcotic substances by concealing them in cotton bales, but due to the tight vigilancy the respondent, that cannot be accomplished and the psychotropic substances were kept in the godown of Dart Express. Later, all the accused entered in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... investigation is over and charge-sheet has been filed. The mere fact that the respondent has filed final report by itself would not cloth the petitioners with a right to seek bail. In fact the fact that the petitioners have been served with charge-sheet would indicate a prima facie case against the petitioners. In State v. Adi Rajaram (1996-2 Law Weekly Criminal 482), his Lordship Shivappa, J. has observed as under :- Investigation is not an end in itself. It is process which precedes the trial. Evidence has to be collected, but the indictment comes only after the evidence is placed before the court, appreciated and accepted. If by proper safeguards the evidence collected during investigation is not allowed to be preserved and placed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble considering the huge quantity involved, the burden lies upon the petitioners to show that prima facie their guilt is not proved. 4. It is argued by the learned Counsel for the petitioners that co-accused Narasimhan who is one of the procurer of the Mandrax Tablets had been released on bail and an application filed before this Court for cancellation of the bail granted to Narasimhan has also been dismissed. According to them, they stand in a lesser pedestal than Narasimhan in that the case against them is that some of the accused procured the leather jackets and some of them packed the Mandrax Tablets in the leather jackets. The learned Counsel for petitioners submitted that there should be parity between one accused and the other and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment of objection that there is nexus between the petitioners and S". The release of S need not be a factor to be taken into consideration to consider the case of the petitioner." 7. According to the petitioners, they were not aware that the tablets are psychotropic substance; that they were under the belief that the tablets were some pills meant to cure heart disease and they were vitality tablets. The case of the prosecution is that each petitioner has played for a specific role in committing the act and that the absconding accused and Narasimhan procured the Mandrax Tablets. One of the petitioners transported the psychotropic substance from the godown of Dart Express to the petitioner Joseph s house and from there Prasanna Kumar tra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the N.D.P.S. Act contain certain facts which are to be accepted as admissions under Section 17 of the Evidence Act; that they become relevant under Section 27 of the Evidence Act and an admission of one person is binding on the other. The difference between `admission and `confession is that a `confession is an inculpatory statement made by one of the accused incriminating himself with the crime, and so far as `admission is concerned, it is not an inculpatory statement, but mere statement of facts. The Evidence Act is common to both Civil and Criminal Proceedings and how far the statements can be accepted as confession or admission have to be considered at the time of the trial. Suffice it to mention that the statement of the accused in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... may be a factor in considering whether or not bail could be granted to them, but that may not be the sole factor to grant bail. In the decision reported in A.M. Dyaneswaran v. The Enforcement Officer, Enforcement Directorate, etc. [1996 (2) L.W. (Crl.) 569], Shivappa, J. has observed as under :- ....Court has to keep a balance between rights of ivestigating agency on the one hand and right of liberty to the accused on the other hand. It is always said better to light a candle than to curse darkness". In the sense, withhelding bail may likely to result in unearthing the truth. It is good to cherish and protect individual liberty but with limitation without affecting rule of law. When allegation is that offence touching the cry of liberty ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
