National Drugs Act cannot override personal liberty: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that the stringent rules under the National Drugs Act cannot be above the constitutional right to personal liberty. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the Supreme Court clarified that if an accused is kept in jail for more than six years without the trial starting, it is in itself a form of punishment, which is unacceptable.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice C.D. Pramathia (noted as Justice Sheel Nagu in source) made this important observation recently in an order. Meanwhile, the court stated that the strict limitations under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act must yield to the right to personal liberty granted by the Constitution. The court ordered the grant of bail to a person arrested in a narcotics case.

In this case, the accused named Arshdeep Singh has been in jail since 16 May, 2020. The court noted that charges were framed against him only recently, but the trial of the case has not yet commenced. Arshdeep Singh has no prior criminal history. Under these circumstances, the Supreme Court stated that the strict conditions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act must yield to the right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, on 28 July, 2025, set aside the order of the Allahabad High Court which had rejected Singh's second bail application. The Supreme Court has directed him to be released on bail, subject to conditions imposed by the trial court.

Under Section 37 of the NDPS Act, two strict conditions are imposed for granting bail in cases involving commercial quantities of narcotic drugs. If the prosecution opposes bail, the court must be satisfied that there is a reasonable possibility that the accused is not guilty and that there is no likelihood of him committing an offence after being released on bail. This provision is designed to make obtaining bail difficult in drug trafficking cases. However, this intervention by the Supreme Court has made it clear that these restrictions cannot become an excuse for keeping someone in jail for an indefinite period before trial.

Arshdeep Singh was arrested by the National Control Bureau on 16 May, 2020. Singh was arrested when a truck was intercepted on GT Road. According to investigators, 31 kg of opium hidden in plastic bags was found in the truck. The prosecution alleged that the contraband was in his possession, while Singh argued that he was merely driving the vehicle and had no knowledge of the substance hidden inside.

Singh had filed his first bail application in the High Court in July 2022, which was rejected. When he approached the court again, he argued that the mandatory procedure under Section 52A of the NDPS Act for the disposal and documentation of the seized narcotics had not been followed. However, the High Court rejected this argument by citing a 2024 Supreme Court judgment, which stated that delay or non-compliance with Section 52A could not be an independent ground for quashing a trial or granting bail. The High Court rejected his application, stating there was no new ground other than the duration of Singh's imprisonment.

However, the Supreme Court considered the long period of incarceration and the lack of progress in the trial as decisive. The court emphasized that the gravity of the accusation itself cannot justify keeping an undertrial in jail for years without the trial commencing.

The NDPS Act is a law to regulate the production, sale, and use of narcotic drugs. The main objective of this law was to prevent the illegal trade of narcotic drugs and protect society from it.