State of Telangana v. Somanath Khara @ Mohesh @ Hedu - S.37 NDPS Act- Long Custody Duration
NDPS Act - Section 37 - In a case under the NDPS Act, long duration of custody or the completion of investigation are not sufficient factors for enlarging the accused on bail. The accused persons seeking bail have to overcome the rigors of Section 37 of the Act. (Para 6)
Case Info
Extracted Information from the Order
Case name:The State of Telangana v. Somanath Khara @ Mohesh @ Hedu
Neutral citation:Not mentioned in the extract. The document only shows the criminal appeal and SLP numbers:
- Criminal Appeal No. 2367 of 2026 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 18396/2025)
- Criminal Appeal No. 2368 of 2026 (SLP (Crl.) No. 21134/2025)
- Criminal Appeal Nos. 2369–2371 of 2026 (SLP (Crl.) Nos. 8468–8470/2026)
Coram:
- Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pankaj Mithal
- Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.V.N. Bhatti
Judgment / Order date:06 May 2026 (as shown at the end: “NEW DELHI; May 06, 2026” and in the Record of Proceedings: “Date : 06-05-2026”).
Caselaws and citations referred:No prior judgments or case citations are mentioned in the extracted text. The order is very brief and does not refer to any reported precedents.
Statutes / laws referred:
- Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act)
- Section 37 of the NDPS Act (specifically mentioned as creating “rigors” for grant of bail).
Three‑sentence Brief Summary
The appeals by the State of Telangana challenged High Court orders granting bail to the respondents in multiple NDPS Act cases, mainly on the ground that they had been in custody since 03.08.2024 and investigation was complete though the charge‑sheet was not filed. The Supreme Court held that, in prosecutions under the NDPS Act, mere long custody or completion of investigation is not enough for bail unless the accused satisfy the stringent conditions under Section 37, which the High Court had failed to consider. Consequently, the Court set aside the bail orders and remanded the matters to the High Court for fresh consideration in light of subsequent developments.