BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 1 of 7 $~2, 3 and 4 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI # CNR No. DLHC010933362025 + BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 RAJIV KUMAR .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Amit Chadha, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sanjog Singh, Mr. Anubhav Tyagi, Mr. Dhruv Tomar, Mr. Harjas Singh & Mr. Suraj Singh, Advocates. versus STATE NCT OF DELHI .....Respondent Through: Ms. Shubhi Gupta, APP for the State.
SI Sushil Rawat, P.S.: Kalkaji & SI Kaushik Ghosh Yadav, Special Staff, North East. 3 # CNR No. DLHC010995282025 + BAIL APPLN. 4775/2025 & CRL.M.A. 36777/2025 PRAMOD KUMAR .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Akhand Pratap Singh Chauhan, Advocate. versus STATE OF NCT OF DELHI .....Respondent Through: Ms. Shubhi Gupta, APP for the State. SI Sushil Rawat, P.S.: Kalkaji & SI Kaushik Ghosh Yadav, Special Staff, North East. 4 # CNR No.
DLHC010217792026 + BAIL APPLN. 1913/2026This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36 BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 2 of 7 PREM CHAND .....Petitioner Through: Counsel (Appearance not given) versus STATE GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI .....Respondent Through: Ms.
Shubhi Gupta, APP for the State. SI Sushil Rawat, P.S.: Kalkaji & SI Kaushik Ghosh Yadav, Special Staff, North East. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT BANSAL O R D E R % 28.09.2026 1. The present applications have been filed seeking grant of regular bail in FIR No. 147/2024 dated 11th April, 2024, under Sections 22/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (‘NDPS Act’), registered at Police Station Sonia Vihar.
2.
Status report is on record in BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025. Status reports has been handed over in Court in BAIL APPLN. 4775/2025 and BAIL APPLN. 1913/2026 and the same are taken on record.
3. Prem Chand and Pramod Kumar, the applicants in BAIL APPLN. 1913/2026 and BAIL APPLN. 4775/2025 respectively, have been in custody since 16th April, 2024, whereas Rajiv Kumar, the applicant in BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 has been in custody since 17th April, 2024.
The three applicants shall hereinafter be referred to by their names.
4. The case of the prosecution is as under: i. The present FIR came to be registered pursuant to the apprehension of Rahul Pal and Jagdeep, from whose possession 2,40,000 tablets ofThis is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36 BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 3 of 7 Alprazolam (4 cartons) were recovered. ii. During investigation, Rahul Pal disclosed that the recovered contraband had been purchased from one Prem Chand. He also disclosed an image of an Alprazolam tablet strip that had been shared between him and Prem Chand in a WhatsApp chat. iii.
Thereafter, a trap was laid using Rahul Pal’s phone and a sale was arranged for 16th April, 2024, on which date Prem Chand and Pramod Kumar were apprehended, and a further recovery of 59.238 kg of Alprazolam 0.5 mg tablets (11 cartons) was effected from their possession. Prem Chand and Pramod Kumar were arrested on the said date and have since been in custody. iv. Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the abovesaid medicines had been supplied to Prem Chand and Pramod Kumar by Rajiv Kumar through one Dewesh Kumar.
Thereafter, Rajiv Kumar was arrested on 17th April, 2024. v. It is stated that the investigation is complete and the charge sheet has been filed before the Additional Sessions Judge, Karkardooma Courts.
5. Mr. Amit Chadha, Senior Counsel for Rajiv Kumar submits that the said applicant was working as an Area Sales Manager in Leeford Healthcare Private Limited and hence he was not a beneficiary. He submits that no recoveries have been made from the said applicant.
He further submits that the said applicant was arrested only on the basis of the disclosure statements made by the co-accused Pramod Kumar and that no independent evidence has been collected against him.
6. Counsel for Pramod Kumar and Prem Chand submit that the provisions of Section 50 NDPS Act, have not been complied with as thereThis is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36 BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 4 of 7 were no independent witnesses present at the time of the alleged recovery and further, the recovery has not been videographed or photographed.
7. On behalf of Rajiv Kumar and Pramod Kumar, it is submitted that the said applicants were granted interim bails and have duly complied with the conditions of the bail and surrendered back in time.
8.
Counsel for the applicants submit that the chargesheet was filed on 1st October, 2024 and the charges have been framed on 10th October, 2025. However, no witnesses have been examined till date. Hence, the applicants may be granted bail in view of the long incarceration of the applicants and no likelihood of the trial being completed within a short period of time.
9. Counsel for the applicants submit that regular bail has been granted to the other co-accused, namely Rahul Pal and Jagdeep, vide order of this Court dated 26th March, 2025 in BAIL APPLN. 30/2025, and order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Karkardooma Courts dated 31st July, 2024 in Bail Matter No. 638/2024 respectively.
10.
Per contra, APP appearing on behalf of the State opposes the grant of bail and submits that there is clear evidence on record implicating all the applicants. The FSL report confirms the seized substance to be Alprazolam, which is a psychotropic substance notified as a Schedule H drug under the NDPS Act. It is further submitted that the applicants are part of an organised inter-State drug syndicate.
11.
Recoveries of commercial quantities of the contraband have been made in the present case. Therefore, the rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act would come into place.
12. I have heard the counsel for the parties and perused the material on record.This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36 BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 5 of 7 13.
In terms of the status report, a commercial quantity of contraband, i.e., Alprazolam has been recovered. Hence, the rigours of Section 37 NDPS Act would be attracted in the present case. However, it is trite that the rigours of Section 37 cannot defeat the constitutional protections enshrined within Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court, in a catena of judgments, has laid down the principle that prolonged incarceration at the pre-trial stage, even in cases under special statutes containing stringent bail conditions, would be violative of the right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Reference in this regard may be had to Mohd. Muslim v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2023) 18 SCC 166, Dheeraj Kumar Shukla v. State of Uttar Pradesh 2023 SCC OnLine SC 918, Rabi Prakash v. State of Odhisha 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1109, State of Punjab v. Sukhwinder Singh @ Gora [Judgment dated 24th April, 2026 in SLP (Crl.) No. 5020/2026] 14. In Rabi Prakash v. State of Odisha (supra) the Supreme Court was dealing with a case where the accused had spent 3 and a half years in custody, had no criminal antecedents and only one out of the 19 witnesses had been examined.
The court further held that the embargo created under Section 37(1)(b)(ii) of the NDPS Act may be dispensed with in cases where the accused has been under prolonged incarceration. More recently, in State of Punjab v. Sukhwinder Singh @ Gora (supra), the Supreme Court reiterated that the considerations under Section 37 are required to be assessed holistically, while ensuring that the constitutional protection under Article 21 is not rendered illusory.
15.
In the present case, it is an admitted position that the applicants have been in custody for approximately 2 years and 6 months and it is also anThis is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36 BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 6 of 7 admitted position that not a single witness has been examined till date.
Therefore, the trial is unlikely to be completed in the near future.
16. Two of the applicants, Rajiv Kumar and Pramod Kumar, were granted interim bail and they have duly surrendered without violating the conditions of the interim bail.
17. The other co-accused, Rahul Pal and Jagdeep, have also been granted bail. Rahul Pal was granted bail by this Court vide order dated 26th March, 2025 in BAIL APPLN. 30/2025, and Jagdeep was granted bail by the Additional Sessions Judge, Karkardooma Courts, vide order dated 31st July, 2024 passed in Bail Matter No. 638/2024.
18.
In terms of the status report and the nominal roll, the applicants do not have any prior criminal record and have clean antecedents. The conduct of Rajiv Kumar and Prem Chand in jail has been satisfactory.
19. The applicants have raised other non-compliances with the provisions of the NDPS Act in the present investigation as detailed above. However, at this stage, this Court is not inclined to go into the same and the same would be considered at the stage of trial.
20.
In the opinion of this Court, further incarceration would serve no useful purpose, considering that the trial is not likely to be completed in the near future. In view thereof, this Court is inclined to enlarge the accused- applicants on bail.
21. For the forgoing reasons, the present applications are allowed and the applicants are directed to be released on bail, subject to the applicants furnishing bail bond(s) in the sum of Rs.10,000/- each, with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Sessions Court, and subject to following conditions:This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36 BAIL APPLN. 4507/2025 & connected matters Page 7 of 7 a. The applicants shall provide their mobile numbers to the concerned Investigating Officer (‘IO’) / Station House Officer, which shall be kept in a working condition at all times.
The mobile number shall not be switched off or changed without prior intimation to the IO. b. The applicants shall furnish their permanent addresses to the IO, as also the address where they are residing during the pendency of the matter, within one week from today, and will inform the IO and this Court in case of any change in address. c. The applicants will appear before the Trial Court as and when the matter is listed for hearing. d.
The applicants shall not leave the country without the permission of the Court. e. The applicants shall not commit any offence during the period of their release. f. The applicants shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case or tamper with the evidence of the case in any manner whatsoever.
22. The applications are disposed of in the above terms.
AMIT BANSAL, J SEPTEMBER 28, 2026 atThis is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 28/09/2026 at 21:25:36