Mumbai, October 30, 2018 – In a ruling delivered nearly seven years ago, the Special Judge for NDPS Cases at Greater Mumbai, M. S. Mungale, granted bail to Sindhu Sheshnath Gupta, a 30-year-old housewife, who was arrested in connection with a heroin seizure. The court’s decision hinged on the fact that the quantity of contraband seized was a “non-commercial quantity,” thereby not attracting the stringent bail restrictions under Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Gupta, a resident of Nehru Nagar, Borivali (East), Mumbai, and at the time lodged at Byculla Women Prison, had filed Bail Application No. 761 of 2018. She was arrested by the Kasturba Marg police station in L.A.C. No. 41 of 2018, dated October 20, 2018.
Prosecution’s Case and Defence Arguments
According to the prosecution, a raid conducted on October 20, 2018, led to the seizure of 12.550 grams of heroin, valued at Rs. 45,000/-, from Gupta’s possession in the presence of panch witnesses.
Mr. S. S. Bhandary, the learned advocate for the applicant, argued for her release, emphasizing that the seized quantity was “non-commercial,” which meant the strict conditions for bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act were not applicable. He also pointed out that Gupta was a resident of a hut in Borivali (East), Mumbai, and that the Investigating Officer (I.O.) had not reported any previous cases of similar offenses against her.
Mr. B. G. Rajput, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor (A.P.P.) for the State, opposed the application, submitting a reply filed by the Investigating Officer on October 26, 2018, detailing various grounds for opposition.
Court’s Finding and Bail Conditions
After hearing both sides and perusing the police papers, Special Judge M. S. Mungale concurred with the defence’s argument regarding the quantity of contraband. The court explicitly stated that since the alleged heroin seized was a “non-commercial quantity,” the restrictions for granting bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act were indeed not applicable.
Furthermore, the court noted that the I.O. had not reported any prior criminal history of similar offenses against the applicant. Based on these observations, the court concluded that Sindhu Sheshnath Gupta was entitled to be released on bail.
The court allowed Bail Application No. 761 of 2018, setting the following conditions for her release:
- Personal Release (P.R.) bond of Rs. 25,000/- and a surety of the like amount.
- Gupta is at liberty to submit one or more sureties to match the required amount.
- She was granted six weeks to submit the sureties. In the interim, she was permitted to be released on provisional cash security of Rs. 25,000/-.
- Before her release, she was required to submit her residential address proof and photograph on record.
- She was directed not to tamper with the prosecution evidence.
The application was disposed of accordingly. The order was dictated on October 30, 2018, transcribed on November 1, 2018, and signed and uploaded on November 2, 2018.