20-Yr-Old Allegedly Found In Conscious Possession of 19 Grams 'Chitta' Granted Bail By HP High Court Noting His 'Tender Age'

Taking into account his 'tender age', the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently granted bail to a 20-year-old boy who was allegedly found by the state police in the conscious possession of 19.5 grams of 'Chitta' (synthetically produced drugs).

The Bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel also observed that it was not in dispute that the contraband recovered from the conscious possession of him was of intermediate quantity and that he is a 20 years old boy having no previous criminal history of a case under the NDPS Act.

"What is weighing with the Court is the tender age of the petitioner," the Court noted while granting him bail.

Case in brief 

The case of the prosecution is that on August 19, 2021, during the regular checking of vehicles in view of the impending visit of VIP to the town, a police party stopped a bus, in which, the petitioner was found sitting, who was holding an orange colored zipper in his arms.

When the police party asked him as to what was the purpose of his visit, the petitioner got perplexed and he could not give any satisfactory answer. On that, the police party suspected that there may be some suspicious article with the petitioner.

This led to his search, which resulted in the recovery of 19.52 grams of Chitta from him, and therefore, he was booked under Section 21 of the NDPS Act and was arrested by following the legal formalities. Thereafter, he moved to the High Court seeking regular bail by filing the instant plea.

Court's observations

At the outset, the Court underscored that whether or not the petitioner is guilty of the offence alleged against him is a matter of trial and that if ultimately, he is convicted for the commission of the offence allegedly committed by him, then, but obvious, he would face the consequences.

However, noting that he is just 20 years old and has been allegedly apprehended with an intermediate quantity of Chitta and has no previous criminal history of having committed an offence under the NDPS act, therefore, the Court allowed his bail plea by ordering his release from the prison on his furnishing personal bail bond to the tune of Rs. 50K with one surety.

Case title - Gaurav Thakur v. The State Of Himachal Pradesh 

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