Intermediate quantity under NDPS Act attracts ordinary bail principles, with section 37 inapplicable and liberty favoured.

Where the recovered contraband was an intermediate quantity and not commercial, the rigour of section 37 of the NDPS Act was held inapplicable, so bail had to be assessed under the ordinary principles of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court stressed that pre-trial detention is not punitive, bail serves to secure attendance at trial, and judicial discretion must follow settled legal principles. As no punishment of death or life imprisonment arose and no reasonable ground existed to refuse liberty, the applicants were held entitled to bail.

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Issues: Whether the applicants were entitled to bail in an NDPS case where the recovered contraband was an intermediate quantity and the rigour of section 37 of the NDPS Act was held inapplicable.

Analysis: The recovered quantity was treated as intermediate and not commercial. In such a case, bail was to be considered under the ordinary principles governing bail under the Code of Criminal Procedure and not under the restrictive conditions of section 37 of the NDPS Act. The order emphasised that bail is intended to secure attendance at trial, that deprivation of liberty before conviction is not punitive, and that judicial discretion must be exercised on settled legal principles. Since the case did not involve punishment with death or imprisonment for life and no reasonable ground was found to deny bail, the governing principle was that liberty should not be withheld merely by way of punishment.

Conclusion: The applicants were held entitled to bail.

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