RAMJHAN GANI PALANI versus NATIONAL INVESTIGATING AGENCY AND ANR

Citation: [2022] 4 S.C.R. 1050 · Decided: 27-04-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: N.V. RAMANA · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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RAMJHAN GANI PALANI
v.
NATIONAL INVESTIGATING AGENCY AND ANR.
(Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Criminal) No. 8942 of 2021)
APRIL 27, 2022
[N. V. RAMANA, CJI, KRISHNA MURARI AND
HIMA KOHLI, JJ.] 
Bail: Regular bail – Denial of – Matter pertaining to seizure
of huge quantity of Narcotics drug, Heroin near Port in Gujarat in
a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and Directorate of
Revenue Intelligence-DRI – Prosecution case that on receiving
intelligence input, the DRI intercepted a Pakistani boat in the Indian
territorial waters which was trying to escape – Seizure of bags
containing narcotic substance, and the Captain of the boat admitted
dumping some bags into the sea along with a satellite phone –
Investigation revealed that narcotics were being clandestinely
brought into Gujarat from Pakistan through the sea route –
Detention of petitioner on a reasonable belief that he was the Indian
recipient for the drug consignment brought into the Indian territory
by the Pakistani Flag Ship – Bail application by petitioner – Denial
of regular bail by the courts below – On appeal, held: There is
sufficient material on record to deny the discretionary relief of bail
to petitioner – Petitioner has been chargesheeted for a serious
offence where the minimum punishment prescribed is of ten years –
Thus, the impugned order not interfered with – Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 – ss. 2, 8, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 29
and 32 (B) (e) – Penal Code, 1860 – ss. 120-B, 121-A & 122 –
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,1967 – ss.17, 18, 18-B, 20.
EXTRAORDINARY APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Petition
for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 8942 of 2021.
From the Judgment and Order dated 19.08.2021 of the High Court
of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Criminal Appeal No.808 of 2021.
R. Basant, Azmat Hayat Amanullah, Nishant Awana, Devansh
Malhotra, Ms. Nitya Sharma, Akshay Sahay, Advs. for the Petitioner.
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K. M. Nataraj, ASG, Subhranshu Padhi, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Vinayak
Sharma, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Advs. for
the Respondents.
The Order of the Court was passed by
HIMA KOHLI, J.
1. The petitioner has filed the present petition seeking special leave
to appeal against the order dated 19th August, 2021, passed by the Gujarat
High Court, dismissing the appeal preferred by him against the order
dated 19th March, 2021, passed by the Special Judge, National
Investigating Agency, Ahmedabad, whereby his bail application was
rejected in a case registered originally by the Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence1 and subsequently taken over by the National Investigating
Agency for offences under Sections 120-B, 121-A & 122 of the IPC,
Sections 17, 18, 18-B, 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and
Sections 2, 8, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 29 and 32 (B) (e) of the Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances Act, 19852, relating to seizure of 236.622
Kgs. of Narcotics drug, Heroin near Jakhau Port, Gujarat on 21st& 22nd
May, 2019 in a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and DRI.
2. The case of the prosecution is that on receiving intelligence
input, the DRI had intercepted a Pakistani boat in the Indian territorial
waters which was trying to escape on 21st May, 2019. The Indian Coast
Guard had chased and caught the Pakistani boat with one Captain and
five crew members on board. The Captain had admitted to dumping
some bags into the sea along with a satellite phone. 194 packets were
retrieved from the seven bags containing a total quantity of 217.856 Kgs
of narcotic substance, Heroin and were seized. Subsequently, 17 more
packets of Heroin weighing 18.766 Kgs were also recovered from the
coastal area near the location, thereby taking the total seized quantity of
Heroin to 236.622 Kgs in 211 packets The investigation revealed that
narcotics were being clandestinely brought into Gujarat from Pakistan
through the sea route. During his interrogation, the Captain of the Pakistan
Flag ship, “Al Madina” stated that delivery of the consignment of the
narcotic drugs had to be made at a particular position on the sea for
which a communication was to be sent on VHF to the Indian counterpart.
Communication channel No. 8 was earmarked for this purpose on which
1 For short ‘the DRI’
2 For short ‘the NDPS Act’
RAMJHAN GANI PALANI v. NATIONAL INVESTIGATING AGENCY
AND ANR.
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he was to
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