Punjab and Haryana High Court grants default bail to NDPS accused as chargesheet filed without forensic report

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently granted default bail to three persons accused in a drugs case on the ground that the report of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) was not submitted by the police along with its charge sheet [Taswwar Khan versus State of Haryana]..Justice Vikas Suri acknowledged that there has been some debate over whether a chargesheet submitted without an accompanying FSL report is incomplete in cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (Act).The question is presently pending before a Full Bench of the High Court as well as the Supreme Court, the judge was told. Nevertheless, Justice Suri granted default bail in the case before him after considering that the accused persons had been in jail for more than nine months. Notably, in Arif Khan vs. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi), the Supreme Court had granted default bail in a case where the chargesheet was not accompanied by an FSL report. The High Court relied on this ruling as well to grant default bail in the present case. ."In view of all that has been observed above and in the light of the fact that the petitioners are behind bars since last more than nine months, this Court deems it appropriate to extend them the concession of bail in terms of Section 167(2) Cr.P.C," the High Court said..The judge, however, clarified that the prosecution can seek a recall of the bail order if either the Full Bench of the High Court or the Supreme Court decides in favour of the prosecution on the larger question of whether a chargesheet is incomplete without the FSL report..The case before the High Court concerned an NDPS case lodged in Faridabad. The police filed the final report before the trial court on April 28. The trial court declined to grant the accused statutory default bail to the accused, leading to a challenge before the High Court.The High Court was called to consider whether the accused would have the right to seek statutory bail when the challan was not accompanied by the FSL report. The prosecution argued that the chargesheet cannot be termed incomplete just because it was filed without an FSL report..Justice Suri noted that the High Court, in an earlier ruling, had held that an accused would be entitled to default bail if the chargesheet is not accompanied by an FSL report. This was followed in a 2021 High Court ruling as well.However, a reference made in September 2020 on whether such a chargesheet was complete was also pending before a larger bench of the High Court. Further, Justice Suri was also told that the matter was pending consideration before the Supreme Court as well..After considering various rulings, the Court ultimately opined that the accused persons should be extended the concession of default bail, considering that they have remained in jail for over nine months..Senior Advocate Dr Anmol Rattan Sidhu with Advocate Pranshul Dhull, and Advocates Kamal K. Chaudhary, Johan Kumar represented the petitioners (accused). Deputy Advocate General Pawan Jhanda represented the State of Haryana..[Read Order]