NDPS bail cancellation turns on statutory compliance, while mere non-production of the seizure mahazar is not enough.

In NDPS prosecutions, bail can be refused or cancelled where mandatory safeguards are not complied with, and Section 37 applies to the bail assessment. The Madras HC noted that the remand report, Section 67 statements and accompanying materials showed seizure of contraband and prima facie procedural compliance. The mere non-production of the seizure mahazar in the remand papers was not, by itself, a statutory requirement or an independent ground to sustain bail. The Court also observed that delayed sending of the mahazar may be undesirable, but it did not vitiate the investigation or justify bail cancellation on that basis alone.

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Issues: Whether the bail granted under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was liable to be cancelled in view of the alleged non-production of the seizure mahazar and the alleged non-compliance with the mandatory safeguards under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Analysis: The remand report, the statements recorded under Section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and the accompanying materials showed seizure of the contraband and prima facie compliance with the statutory procedure. The absence of the seizure mahazar in the remand papers, by itself, was not treated as a statutory requirement under the Act or the Code so as to justify bail. While non-compliance with mandatory safeguards under the Act can be relevant at the bail stage and the rigour of Section 37(1)(b) of the Act applies, the material on record did not disclose any such violation that would sustain the grant of bail. The Court also held that the omission to send the mahazar immediately may be undesirable as a matter of judicial policy, but it did not vitiate the investigation or furnish an independent ground for bail cancellation.

Conclusion: The bail order was unsustainable and had to be set aside; cancellation of bail was warranted.

Final Conclusion: The petition for cancellation of bail succeeded, and the respondent was directed to surrender, with liberty to secure him in accordance with law if he failed to do so.

Ratio Decidendi: In prosecutions under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, bail may be refused or cancelled where the statutory safeguards are not complied with, but the mere non-production of a seizure mahazar, when the remand report and other contemporaneous materials otherwise disclose seizure and prima facie compliance, is not by itself a legal ground to sustain bail.

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