There were five requests for bail that Judge Sarang Kotwal had reserved for warrants. And it didn’t take long to hear them. Delivering them via video link, he first said that the bail requests of Abdel Parihar, a 23-year-old Bandra resident accused of being a street vendor, and Showik Chakraborty, Rhea’s brother, were “rejected”. . By then, the mood had turned tense. and the barely held breath of the defenders palpable. When the judge mentioned Rea and her application number, the silence was almost audible. He then said that Rea was ordered to be released on bail on 1 lakh rupee bail. At the request of her lawyer Satish Maneshinde, citing the pandemic situation, the HC allowed her to post a cash bond to ensure an immediate release from the Byculla women’s prison.
Rhea Chakraborty’s release couldn’t have come too early one day. First of all, he shouldn’t have had to go through the ordeal of spending a month in jail. Several courts have been reluctant to grant bail when there is evidence that a commercial amount has been negotiated; but in this case, nothing was found. As the Bombay High Court has correctly observed, it would be unreasonable for Rhea, given the charges imposed by the NCB, to receive 20 years in jail and the person for whom she purchased medicine to receive one year in her stead. He also rejected the “financing” charges and said Rhea was not part of a drug cartel. The question that arises then is why has she been charged with crimes under Section 27A of the NDPS Act, which is intended to curb illicit trafficking and which requires courts to be satisfied with multiple charges before releasing a defendant on bail.
The NCB’s attorney, Additional Attorney General Anil Singh, took a moment and requested a suspension of his bond for a week so that the agency could file an appeal with the Supreme Court. However, Judge Kotwal said: “I have imposed sufficiently strict bail conditions on him” and added one more that he has to, for the first 10 days, report daily at the nearest police station from 11 am to. M. At 5 p. M. “To show you availability.”
Bail for one brother and jail for the other may have left the Chakraborty family with mixed feelings. But a sense of relief was evident, shortly after the release order was signed, Rhea’s attorney, Satish Maneshinde, said: “He will spend the night in his own bed after a month.” When asked about her reaction to the order, Maneshinde said, “Rhea was delighted to see me and said the truth has prevailed.” She was released from jail at 5 in the afternoon.
The court’s decision to grant Rhea bail was based on its observation that a distinction should be made between traffickers who benefited from the deals and those who are not “major offenders” in cases involving crime related to crimes. drugs
The judge agreed with Parihar’s lawyer, Taraq Sayed, that Section 27A (for the financing of illicit trafficking) of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), which attracts 10 to 20 years in prison, “must be interpreted harmoniously ”. to make sure it curbs the drug cartels without severely punishing other people who are not involved in the trade. The judge said the interpretation of the law should not be at odds with a sentencing structure based on the quantity of drugs.
The HC did not accept the NCB’s argument that giving drug supply money to actor Sushant Singh Rajput would attract Section 27A, which is generally invoked to “fund” drug deals.
“It is extremely disproportionate and extremely unreasonable” that the person who used drugs (Sushant) had a year in jail … or obtained immunity from trial, but (one) who gives money, either a friend or a relative, for the drug he faces the prospect of … 20 years in prison, ”Judge Sarang Kotwal said in a 70-page warrant.
In another important finding, HC held that all crimes under the NDPS Act are ‘not subject to bail’, although for those with lesser punishment, the rigors of a strict bail provision would not apply. In other words, for any crime, even small amounts, only a court can grant bail, not the police or the special agency.
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