The Supreme Court on Thursday held that delay in trial or prolonged incarceration cannot, by itself, justify the grant of bail in cases involving commercial quantity of narcotic drugs when the mandatory twin conditions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act remain unmet. The Court set aside two orders of the Bombay High Court that had granted bail to Vigin K Varghese, accused in major cocaine and methamphetamine seizures investigated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N V Anjaria remitted the matter to the High Court for fresh consideration.

Background

According to the prosecution, the DRI seized 50.232 kg of cocaine on October 6–7, 2022, from a refrigerated container imported from South Africa in the name of a company where Varg

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