NDPS bail under Section 37 depends on admissible, substantive evidence; call detail records alone were insufficient here.

In an NDPS prosecution involving commercial quantity, Section 37's bail restrictions applied, but the Court found the prosecution material insufficient to deny bail. The main links to the accused were a Section 67 statement and a co-accused's similar statement, which were treated as inadmissible confessional evidence. Call detail records showed contact with the co-accused, but without conversation records or other substantive proof they did not establish guilt at the bail stage. With no material indicating prior similar conduct or risk of repetition, the accused was held to have reasonable grounds to believe he was not guilty, and bail was granted.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to bail in a prosecution under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 in view of the bar under Section 37, when the material against him consisted principally of statements recorded under Section 67 and call detail records.

Analysis: The alleged recovery was of commercial quantity, so the restrictions under Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 applied. The material relied upon by the prosecution to connect the petitioner with the contraband was the statement recorded under Section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and the statement of a co-accused recorded on the same footing. Such confessional statements were held to be inadmissible in evidence. The remaining circumstance was call detail records showing contact between the petitioner and the co-accused, but that contact, without any conversation record or other substantive evidence, was held insufficient to establish guilt at the stage of bail. No material was shown to indicate previous similar conduct or likelihood of repetition.

Conclusion: The petitioner made out reasonable grounds to believe that he was not guilty for the purpose of Section 37, and bail was granted.

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