Problem With Drug Seizures Spurs Calcutta High Court to Allow Charge Sheets Without Chem Reports

Judicial Crackdown

Posted by AI on 2025-08-25 15:49:45 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-25 19:23:07

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The Calcutta High Court has stated that trial courts can rely on charge sheets without waiting for chemical reports on seized drugs, in a bid to combat delays in trials.

This decision was made while denying bail to an accused in a case involving drugs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The accused's lawyer argued that the trial court cannot accept a charge sheet without a chemical report, arguing that such a report is required to take "cognizance" of the charge sheet. The lawyer added that the lab report cannot be directly sent to the trial court.

However, the high court countered this argument, stating that cognizance of offence is at a nascent stage when the trial judge assesses the allegations and decides whether further proceedings are necessary. The judges stated that taking cognizance cannot be equated with framing a charge.

The accused was arrested near Ankura Bridge on November 25, 2023, with 307 grams of heroin. The charge sheet was filed on May 15, 2024, without a chemical report, and rejected a bail petition on November 11, 2024. The report was directly sent to the court on July 9, 2024.

The division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray heard the plea, and Justice Sinha Ray stated that delaying trials for reports was unnecessary. The bench argued that allegations were sufficient at the cognizance stage, and waiting for reports to frame the charge slowed down the process needlessly.

Go!