Madras High Court Grants Bail To Lawyer In NDPS Case, Says No Material Against Him Except Money Transactions

Finding that the advocate Aashhik Ali satisfies the conditions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act for bail, Justice AD Jagadish Chandira granted him bail.

The court also noted that except for the alleged money transactions which were done between Aashik and the accused, there was no material nor recovery. 

“Though it is stated that the petitioner was dealing with the finances of the other accused, other than the money alleged to have been transacted through GPay on 22.06.2022, 19.09.2022 and 28.09.2022, there is no other material. The date of occurrence is on 29.04.2023. Further, the petitioner in the previous case has also been implicated based on the confession and he has been granted anticipatory bail. This Court is of the opinion that the petitioner has satisfied the conditions under Section 37 of NDPS Act for grant bail of bail, thereby, this Court is inclined to grant bail to the petitioner with certain conditions,” the court observed.

The prosecution case was that when the police arrested certain persons in possession of Ganja based on secret information, during the course of investigation, two of the accused confessed that one police official had given them ideas on how they should transport contrabands getting caught through WhatsApp Call and the petitioner, Aashik, who was a law student at that time, had helped them sell the Ganja.

The prosecution claimed that after this, Aashik joined as a junior in the office of Advocate Shanmugasundaram and that all the money transactions were carried out through Aashik.

On the other hand, Aashik argued that he is innocent and is being falsely implicated in the case. He submitted that he after graduating in 2020 and enrolling in 2022, he, along with his senior  appeared in 46 NDPS cases for various accused in and around Coimbatore City, due to which the police were antagonized with him.

He further submitted that other than receiving fees from the accused through G-Pay accounts, he had no nexus with the criminal activity and that he was falsely implicated. He also pointed out that all the alleged money transactions were stated to be done long back and there was absolutely no other money transaction between him and the other accused. He contended that he was made an accused merely for conducting cases for the accused and sought bail.

The court, after considering both sides, opined that Aashik was eligible for bail and thus ordered his release upon executing a bond for a sum of Rs. 10,000 with two sureties to the satisfaction of the learned Additional District Judge/Presiding Officer, Special Court for Essential Commodities Act Cases, Coimbatore.

Case Title: Aashik Ali v State

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 214

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr.Radha Pandian

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr.C.E.Pratap, Government Advocate (Crl.Side)