The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has granted bail to a Srinagar resident in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Case.
The court granted bail to Touseef Ahmad Khan, son of Nazir Ahmad Khan, a resident of Bazar Mohalla Batamaloo, Srinagar, who was arrested in April 2023 in connection with a narcotics case under FIR No. 37/2023 registered at Police Station Batamaloo. The case falls under Sections 8/21 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The bail order, pronounced by Justice Sanjay Dhar, was issued after hearing the bail application filed through Advocate Abu Owais Pandit. The petitioner had been in custody since April 2, 2023, and had earlier been denied bail by the trial court on February 13, 2024.
As per the court document, the case against Touseef Ahmad Khan was registered based on allegations that he and co-accused were involved in the sale of codeine phosphate-based syrup, allegedly targeting school-going children. As per the prosecution, the police raided his residence in Batamaloo on April 2, 2023, and seized 11 bottles of Codeine Phosphate syrup from his bedroom.
The seizure was reportedly carried out in the presence of an Executive Magistrate and duly documented on-site. All procedural formalities such as sample collection and on-spot sealing were claimed to be done according to law.
However, during cross-examination before the trial court, the Executive Magistrate (PW-MO-1) said that he had not accompanied the police team during the raid. Instead, he said the samples were sealed at his office, raising doubts about the legality of the seizure process.
Justice Dhar, in his detailed order, said that while the court at the stage of bail cannot conduct a deep evaluation of evidence, it must satisfy itself that reasonable grounds exist to believe the accused may not be guilty of possessing a commercial quantity of contraband.
He pointed out two major concerns that the Executive Magistrate’s statement contradicted the seizure memo, weakening the prosecution’s version of a properly witnessed seizure and of the 11 bottles allegedly seized, only 3 were sent for chemical analysis. The remaining 8 bottles were not tested, leading to serious doubt whether the quantity involved actually crossed the commercial threshold under the NDPS Act.
The Forensic Science Laboratory report confirmed that the 3 bottles tested did contain codeine phosphate. However, with no analysis of the remaining 8 bottles, the commercial quantity classification remained legally questionable.
Justice Dhar observed,
“There is no explanation from the prosecution as to why the remaining eight bottles were not sent for chemical analysis… it cannot be said with certainty that the petitioner was found in possession of a commercial quantity of the contraband,”Justice Dhar observed.
Out of ten listed prosecution witnesses, eight have already been examined, leaving only the Investigating Officer and FSL expert. The court took note that the remaining witnesses are official witnesses, and there is no risk of tampering or influencing them if the petitioner is released.
The court also found that the accused has no prior criminal record, and the prosecution failed to provide any material suggesting he may abscond or repeat the offence if granted bail.
Justice Dhar said that under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, bail in cases involving commercial quantity is to be denied unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty of the offence and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
He concluded that both conditions were prima facie met in this case.
The High Court allowed the bail application and reserved the judgment on May 30, 2025, with the final order pronounced on June 6, 2025.
