"Didn't Have Conscious Possession": Calcutta High Court Grants Bail To Delivery Boys Booked Under NDPS Act For Transporting Illicit Goods

A Division Bench of Calcutta High Court has granted bail to three accused persons who were delivery boys of Delhivery Ltd, accused of offences under the NDPS Act,1985.

The division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Prasenjit Biswas held that the accused persons were employed as delivery boys by Delhivery and were doing their regular course of duty by picking up the shipments and transporting it to their destination as per the order received in the company portal. 

The court held that they were not in conscious possession of the contraband and/or physical possession with intent. Court said:

“Prima facie, from the circumstances in which contraband substances were recovered, it may not be said that such possession of contraband was coupled with the requisite mental element and that the petitioners were aware of the fact that the cartons collected for delivery contained contraband substances…prima facie, at this stage it may be ruled out that the petitioners were having any conscious possession or physical possession of contraband substances with animus.”

Arrest curtails freedom, brings humiliation and casts scars forever. The petitioners are having their families and are permanent residents of Coochbehar. Their earnings from their engagement are the sole source of their livelihood. In the said conspectus, prima facie, it does not appear that they would flee from justice or delay the investigation by abscondence. In the backdrop of such sequence, it would not be appropriate to deny the petitioners their liberty, at this stage, in spite of the statutory restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, it added.

Petitioners submitted that a business associate of Delhivery had booked a consignment in the online portal and as per standing operating procedure the petitioners went to collect the cartons from a medical store at Natabari, namely, M/s Natabari Medical Stores. While they were returning with such consignment in a vehicle, the same was intercepted and the petitioners were arrested. 

It was stated that the petitioners were only assigned the job to pick up the shipment and they had no knowledge whatsoever as regards the contents of the cartons. They have thus been falsely implicated and are languishing in custody for more than 135 days.

Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the State vehemently opposed the petitioners' prayer and submits that there are strong incriminating materials on record against the petitioners. From the seizure list it would appear that contraband substances above commercial quantity in three cartons were recovered from their possession and as such, the statutory restrictions are clearly attracted. Furthermore, the investigation is still continuing and that as such the petitioners' prayer needs to be rejected at this stage.

However, in noting that the person who had booked the consignment had not been arrested and that the petitioners were not a flight risk, the court granted bail.

Dr. Arjun Chowdhury, Ms Pratusha Dutta Chowdhury and Ms Riya Agarwal argued the case on behalf of the petitioners/ applicants.

Case No: CRM (NDPS) 40 of 2025

Case: In Re : Narayan Dey & Ors.