INDORE: MP high court has granted bail to five accused in a drug case wherein 70 kg mephedrone worth Rs 70 crore was seized. HC has also made critical observations on procedure followed in trial court for extending time to file chargesheet.
Instead of the prosecutor, investigation officer filed an application in the lower court seeking extension of time for completing the investigation on April 5, which was allowed by trial judge on July 2.
While granting bail, HC hudge Justice Subodhy Abhyankar observed, “The role assigned to a public prosecutor is not of a postman but of a vigilant prosecutor to ensure proper compliance of the NDPS Act, especially, the mandatory provisions of Section 36-A(4).”
He was critical of the prosecutor for not filling application for extension of time, which is mandatory in the law.
The petitioners, through their counsel, had raised illegality in procedures like investigating officer filling application seeking extension of time for filling chargesheet and non-mention of reason to increase the custody as required in NDPS act.
The accused moved a bail plea before trial court as they completed 180 days in custody but it was rejected. Petitioners through their counsel in three petitions clubbed together moved high court for quashing of the extension order of trial court and seeking bail as police failed to produce charge sheet after 180 days of their custody.
The HC observed: “A stale, around three months old application has been considered by the learned Judge of the trial court for extending the time to file the chargesheet, which, in itself is a ground, sufficient enough to hold that there was non-application of mind on the part of the learned Judge of the trial court.”
The accused -- Dinesh Agrawal, Akshay, Chiman, Ayub Qureshi and Rajak Noor — were arrested in January for possession of 70 kg of mephedrone. Police had claimed that the recovered drug quantity was worth Rs 70 crore and was part of an international drug racket. The police also recovered cash Rs 13.03 lakh from them.
