The Gauhati High Court has refused to grant bail to the driver of carrying 274 soap containing about 3180.83 grams of suspected heroin on the grounds that the Directorate of Revenue (DRI) has duly issued notice to the arrestee’s relative.
The bench of Justice Mridul Kumar Kalita has observed that as there is clear proof of issuance of notice to the relatives/ friends/ nominated persons of the petitioners in this case, this Court is of considered opinion that the procedural requirement of Section 48 of the BNSS has also been substantially complied with in this case and, therefore, the petitioners have failed to make out a case of non-compliance of the mandatory provisions of Article 22(1), 47 and 48 of the BNSS.
On receipt of an information through reliable sources by the Officers of DRI Guwahati Zonal Unit that a truck carrying two male persons and closely escorted by one white colour Toyota Fortuner car carrying two male persons and one female person are coming from Jorabat side, a team of DRI officers were constituted and a search operation was conducted.
The search team intercepted one Tata truck, where the person sitting in the front cabin of the said truck was identified as P. Soul in this case as well as one Sailash Sephen, who is the driver of the truck. The search team also intercepted one Toyota Fortuner car and the occupant of the vehicle were identified as Sahil Gurung, Pretty Thoitak and P. Maraipa.
During interrogation of the occupants of the vehicle, Sailash Sephen i.e., the driver of the said truck and Ms. Pretty Thoitak revealed that there are 274 numbers of soap cases concealed in a specially built cavity/chamber in the driver’s cabin of the said truck. A search was conducted and 274 soap cases containing about 3180.83 grams of suspected heroin were seized.
The petitioners approached the court praying for bail for the second time. Their previous application for bail was dismissed by order after perusal of the case diary.
The court held that the petitioners have failed to overcome the embargo of Section 37 of the NDPS Act, 1985 in this case hence, the prayer for bail is rejected and this bail application is accordingly dismissed.
Case Details
Case Title: P SOUL Versus UOI
Case No.: Bail Appln./1462/2025
Date: 04.06.2025
Counsel For Petitioner: A M Bora, Mr. V A Chowdhury,Mr. D Gagai
Counsel For Respondent: SC, DRI
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