CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has granted default bail to a person arrested with 320 grams of brown sugar, holding that the prosecution’s failure to file a charge sheet within the statutory 180-day period under the NDPS Act violated his legal rights and the constitutional guarantee of personal liberty.
Justice V Narasingh, while disposing of the bail petition, took serious note of the prosecution’s failure to adhere to the timeline prescribed under section 36-A(4) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The petitioner had been in custody since July 28, 2025, in a case registered at Khurda Industrial Estate police station. He was accused of possessing 320 grams of brown sugar. After the special NDPS court at Khurda rejected his bail applications on February 10, he approached the high court seeking default bail. The HC observed that the the statutory requirement had been completely breached in this case.
It also noted that the matter was not even listed before the trial court on the 180th day, pointing to the failure of the court concerned to appreciate the statutory mandate. The investigating officer, an IIC, admitted that the charge sheet could not be filed within the prescribed period but attributed the delay to a law and order situation.
Rejecting this explanation, Justice Narasingh said such a plea “cannot be countenanced” in view of the stringent provisions of the NDPS Act and described the failure as “an affront to the rights of the accused in custody in terms of Article 21 of the Constitution of India”.
Holding that the prosecution had failed in its duty, the high court directed the trial court to release the petitioner on default bail on appropriate terms and conditions.