New Delhi [India], September 8 : A Delhi court has recently granted anticipatory bail to an individual in a drug trafficking case under NDPS. The Court noted that there is a dispute regarding the identity/name of the individual. This case pertains to an FIR registered by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police in 2022.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Tarun Sahrawat granted anticipatory bail to applicant Narayan Upadhyay, directing Delhi Police to release him on bail, subject to furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 30000.
While granting anticipatory bail, the court noted the contention of counsel for the accused that in this matter, a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) was issued against the accused Vinay Pandit; however, the present applicant's name is Narayan Upadhyay.
During the hearing, the court had directed the IO to verify whether the accused Vinay Pandit and Narayan Upadhyay are the same person or not.
The IO filed a report and stated that a local enquiry was conducted and statements of the neighbours were recorded.
It was revealed that Vinay Pandit, along with his family, used to live at Gali No. 1, Panchsheel Colony-I, near Basantpur, Sector 91, Faridabad, Haryana, three years ago. The said address was found abandoned and locked.
It was also stated that no family member of the accused met at the said address, and during the enquiry, the witnesses stated that they did not know whether Vinay Pandit had another name, Narayan Upadhyay or not.
Accused Narayan Upadhyay had moved anticipatory bail plea through Advocate Sanjeev Malik. Counsel for the accused had submitted that he had been falsely implicated in the present matter as he had nothing to do with the alleged offences.
Advocate Sanjeev Malik further submitted that all the allegations against the accused are false and fabricated and that his name is allegedly involved merely in the disclosure statement of the co-accused, which is not admissible in law.
It was also submitted that in this matter, NBW was issued against the accused Vinay Pandit. In contrast, the present accused's name is Narayan Upadhyay and he has apprehension of being arrested by the police officials.
While opposing the bail plea, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) submitted that during the investigation, co-accused Sanjay disclosed that he was doing the work of smack supply with his associate Vinay Kumar alias Vinay Pandit.
The present accused is still absconding and he was also found involved in three cases of theft. It was further submitted that the investigation is still ongoing and therefore, the accused ought not to be granted anticipatory bail.