CUTTACK, India, June 13 -- Orissa High Court issued the following Judgement on May 12:

1. This is a bail application U/S.483 of BNSS by the petitioners for grant of bail in connection with Baunsuni PS Case No.154 of 2024 corresponding to Special Case (NDPS) No.91 of 2024 pending in the file of learned Addl. District & Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, Boudh for commission of offence punishable U/S.20(b)(ii)(C) of the NDPS Act, on the main allegation of possessing 100 Kgs of Contraband Ganja in a bushy field near village road of village Udubilika.

2. Heard, Ms. Anindita Bisoi, learned counsel for the Petitioners and Mr. C. Mahanty, learned Addl. PP in the matter and perused the record.

3. The only ground that was taken by the learned counsel for the Petitioners for grant of bail to the petitioners is for non-communication of written grounds of arrest to the Petitioners, but the present case relates back to an FIR registered on 20.10.2024 and the arrest thereon was made on that day. In the context of communicating of written grounds of arrest, this Court considers it profitable to refer to the decision of Mihir Rajesh Shah Vrs. State of Maharashtra; (2026) 1 SCC 500, wherein the Apex Court in paragraph-67 and 68 has observed as under:-

"67. After having come to the above conclusion, it is pertinent to note that the provision of law under Section 50 of CrPC (Section 47 of BNSS 2023) does not provide for a specific mode of or time frame for communication of the grounds of arrest to the person arrested. This Court in Prabir Purkayastha vs. State (NCT of Delhi); (2024) 8 SCC 254 held that the grounds of arrest be conveyed to the arrestee in writing in all offences at the earliest, which means it need not be given at the time of arrest but within a reasonable time thereafter, for offences under all the statutes, which period would be as has been laid down above in this order. 68. We are cognizant that there existed no consistent or binding requirement mandating written communication of the grounds of arrest for all the offences. Holding as above, in our view, would ensure implementation of the constitutional rights provided to an arrestee as engrafted under Article 22 of the Constitution of India in an effective manner. Such clarity on obligation would avoid uncertainty in the administration of criminal justice. The ends of fairness and legal discipline therefore demand that this procedure as affirmed above shall govern arrests henceforth."

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=I1mmm2bl4r4EREhYK63Kv%2B5VFpRVX%2BXN3EEf0apu24%2FUWHmbAuLlVZzo%2FKypHcuZ&caseno=BLAPL/4251/2026&cCode=1&cino=ODHC010294722026&state_code=11&appFlag=)

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