NDPS bail restrictions control High Court power under Section 439 CrPC when special statutory conditions apply.

Amended Section 37 of the NDPS Act, which uses a non-obstante clause and negative language to restrict bail in specified narcotic offences, controls the High Court's general power under Section 439 CrPC. Although Section 36-A(3) preserves the High Court's special powers, those powers remain subject to the stricter statutory conditions in Section 37. The special bail restrictions under the NDPS Act therefore prevail over the general bail provision in the Code, and bail can be granted only in conformity with those conditions.

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Issues: Whether the restrictions on grant of bail under amended Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 apply to the High Court when exercising powers under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: Section 37 opens with a non-obstante clause and uses negative language to restrict release on bail in specified narcotic offences. The Act is a special enactment intended to provide stringent controls over narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and the limitations on bail are expressed in addition to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Section 36-A(3) preserves the High Court's special powers under Section 439, but those powers remain subject to the substantive limitations enacted in Section 37. The general bail power under the Code must yield where the special statute expressly imposes stricter conditions. The reasoning in analogous decisions under other special enactments supports giving full effect to the special legislation and its non-obstante provision.

Conclusion: The restrictions in amended Section 37 apply to the High Court as well, and the High Court cannot grant bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 except in conformity with those statutory conditions.

Final Conclusion: The legal position was clarified in favour of the appellant, though the respondents were not deprived of the bail already granted in view of the circumstances noted by the Court.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special penal statute contains a non-obstante bail restriction expressed in negative terms, the High Court's general power under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is controlled by that special statutory limitation.

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