Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 – s.37 – Constitution of India – Art.21 – Suspension of sentence and bail, pending appeal against conviction – Power of courts – Conviction of the respondent for offence punishable under the 1985 Act and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment – Since the respondent had undergone incarceration for a period of 4 ½ years out of the fixed term sentence of 10 years, and as the appeal was not likely to be heard before the completion of the sentence, the High Court granted relief of suspension of sentence and bail to the respondent – Interference with: Held: Not called for – If a case is made out for the grant of suspension of sentence and/or bail in deserving cases on merits, the Court is not powerless to grant relief of suspension of sentence and bail pending an appeal, even if an accused has not undergone half of the sentence – There cannot be a rule of thumb that a convict cannot be released on bail pending an appeal against conviction unless he has undergone half of substantive sentence – In the case of fixed-term sentences, if the Courts start adopting a rigid approach, in a large number of cases, till the appeal reaches the stage of the final hearing, the accused would undergo the entire sentence – This would be a violation of the rights of the accused u/Art.21 and would defeat the right of appeal – Furthermore, the Appellate Court is bound by constraints of s.37 while considering the prayer for the grant of bail during the pendency of an appeal – However, if an accused has undergone a substantial part of the substantive sentence and, considering the pendency of criminal appeals, his appeal is not likely to be heard before the accused undergoes the entire sentence, the appellate court can exercise the power of releasing the accused on bail pending the appeal. [Paras 5-8]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain (2000) 8 SCC 437. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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