Judgment · High Court

Mr. Dipankar Dandapath Mr. Saryati Dutta Mr. Saibal Krishna Dasgupta …for the petitioner. …for the State. Dictated by Arijit Banerjee, J.

#1. The petitioner renews his prayer for bail which was rejected on several occasions on merits. The last two rejections were on November 28, 2023, in CRM (NDPS) 1846 of 2023 and on January 17, 2024, in CRM (NDPS) 2109 of 2023. While rejecting the bail prayer of the petitioner on those occasions, a co- ordinate Bench recorded that CCTV footage and other materials including CDRs show close nexus between the petitioner and co-accused persons from whom narcotics above commercial quantity was recovered.

#2. In view of the aforesaid, we are not inclined to allow the petitioner’s prayer for bail, at this stage, keeping in mind the restrictions in Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Hence, the prayer for bail is rejected.

#3. The application being CRM (NDPS) 26 of 2025 is accordingly dismissed.

18.02.2025

#11. Court No.29 (Tanmoy) Rejected Signed By : TANMOY GHOSH High Court of Calcutta 18 th of February 2025 05:19:04 PM 2

#4. We are told by learned State Advocate that there is some delay in progress of the trial because of absconsion of a co-accused person who had been granted bail. March 1, 2025, has been fixed as the next date by the learned Trial Court.

#5. Keeping in view that the petitioner is in custody for about two years and two months, we direct the learned Trial Court to expedite the trial to the fullest extent and conclude the same as early as possible without granting unnecessary adjournment to either of the parties and if necessary, by fixing frequent schedules of 3/4 days each, for examination of witnesses.

#6. Parties to communicate this order to the learned Trial Court. (Apurba Sinha Ray, J.) (Arijit Banerjee, J.) Signed By : TANMOY GHOSH High Court of Calcutta 18 th of February 2025 05:19:04 PM