Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 23: The Court of Special Judge, NDPS Cases, Jammu, has dismissed the bail application of Garv Bhambri in an alleged pharmaceutical drug trafficking case being investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Jammu, holding that no fresh ground or material change in circumstances was made out after rejection of his earlier bail plea.
The application was moved in Crime No. 02/2024 for offences under Sections 8/22/26/29 of the NDPS Act. The accused-applicant had earlier been denied bail by the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on November 28, 2025.
In the fresh bail plea, the applicant sought release on the grounds of long incarceration, alleged false implication, non-recovery from his conscious possession and the fact that he was not arrayed as an accused in the original complaint.
Appearing for the applicant, Advocate Sidharth Jamwal submitted that the accused had no connection with M/s N K Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd., which was alleged to be involved in trafficking and supplying narcotic products, including Codeine Based Cough Syrup.
It was argued that no recovery had been made from the conscious possession of the applicant and that he had been falsely implicated in the supplementary complaint. Advocate Ajay Singh Manhas appeared for the Union of India through NCB and opposed the bail plea.
The court noted that the High Court, while rejecting the earlier bail application, had already considered the allegations and observed that the material collected during investigation prima facie reflected a larger conspiracy involving pharmaceutical firms, shell companies and illegal trafficking of manufactured drugs and psychotropic substances.
The Special Judge observed that a successive bail application can be entertained only when there is a substantial change in circumstances and cannot be used as a device to review or reopen an earlier bail order.
The court further held that mere filing of the charge-sheet does not amount to a change in circumstances, nor does it lessen the allegations made by the prosecution. The court also rejected the plea based on delay in trial, observing that keeping in view the nature of allegations and severity of punishment under the NDPS Act, the applicant was not entitled to bail merely on the ground of incarceration. It further noted that almost the same grounds had already been considered in the earlier proceedings.
Holding that there were prima facie reasonable grounds to believe that the accused was liable for offences involving commercial quantity of contraband drugs, the court said it would not be appropriate to enlarge him on bail. Accordingly, the bail application was dismissed.
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