The Gauhati High Court granted bail to the offence under Section 21( c) of the driver of the truck which transported cough syrup bottles without due E-way Bill Narcotic-Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS).
The accused/petitioner, Malay Mukharjee and Hironmoy Sarkar prayed for a grant of bail in connection with the Case under section 21(c) of the NDPS Act, 1985.
Mr. A.M. Bora, Sr. Counsel appeared for the accused petitioners and submitted that the accused petitioners have been in judicial custody for 137 days despite being innocent. Mr. Bora submitted that the accused petitioner No.1 is the owner and co-driver of the seized truck and the accused petitioner No.2 is the driver employed by the accused petitioner No.1.
The alleged truck has been engaged in the transportation business under Road Kings Pvt. Ltd. for the transportation of consignments of medicines with due challan, e-way bills and other requisite documents. Mr Bora submitted that on the alleged date of interception of their truck, the accused petitioners were transporting the consignment of drugs sold by the agency run by Daffodil Drugs Pvt. Ltd. to a wholesale distributor of Cachar District, Assam namely, A.K. Drug Distributors with valid documents such as GST invoice and e-way bill from West Bengal to Cachar.
Opposing the bail application, Mr R.J. Baruah, Additional Public Prosecutor, submits that the case diary reveals that the case is at the investigation stage and that the invoices and e-payment bills are genuine.
The case relates to the recovery and seizure of 62,080 nos. of Eskuf Cough Syrup bottles (Codeine Phosphate Chlorpheniramine Maleate Syrup) of 100 ml. each while being transported in a vehicle bearing registration No. WB 51C 5398.
A perusal of the case record reveals that both the accused petitioners are named in the FIR. The seizure memo shows that 62,080 bottles of Eskuf cough syrup containing Codeine Phosphate were seized from the exclusive possession of both the accused petitioners.
It was found that the consignment of seized cough syrup bottles was dispatched by Daffodil Drugs Pvt. Ltd, Gangarampur Road, Banerjee Para, Maheshtala to A.K. Drug Distributors, Silchar, Assam through Road King Pvt. Ltd. transporter, Kolkata as per the seized GST Invoice, e-way bills and transport receipt. The investigation reveals that the seized cough syrup bottles were meant for sale in
A single-judge bench comprising Justice Ajit Borthakur directed to release the petitioners on bail of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh) only with two sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge (NDPS), Dhubri subject to certain conditions.
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