Jaipur: In a significant ruling reaffirming the constitutional right to a speedy trial, the Rajasthan High Court has granted bail to an undertrial booked under the NDPS Act after he spent over four years in custody, holding that the prolonged delay in the trial was solely attributable to the prosecution.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Anil Kumar Upman, who allowed the accused’s bail application after noting that despite an earlier direction to conclude the trial within six months, the prosecution repeatedly failed to produce its witnesses.
The petitioner was arrested in February 2022 in an FIR registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Jodhpur, under the NDPS Act. Although his earlier bail pleas were rejected, the High Court found that official witnesses, including the Investigating Officer, repeatedly remained absent despite bailable, non-bailable, and even arrest warrants issued by the trial court.
Allowing the bail plea, the High Court held that the delay was entirely the prosecution’s responsibility and not that of the accused.
The Court observed that an undertrial cannot be kept behind bars indefinitely due to the prosecution’s failure to conclude the trial, as such prolonged incarceration violates the right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Accordingly, the High Court granted bail, reiterating that while NDPS offences are serious, their gravity cannot justify endless pre-trial detention when the prosecution itself is responsible for the delay.
The ruling reinforces that the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial cannot be defeated by prosecutorial inaction.