Hyderabad: The Telangana high court has held that prolonged incarceration or a pending investigation alone cannot be grounds for granting bail in NDPS cases, where jail is the rule and bail the exception.Dismissing the bail pleas of two accused arrested for allegedly smuggling 27.15 kg of ganja from abroad, the HC held that they were part of a single syndicate operation with a common objective and that the principle of collective liability applied to their role in trafficking a commercial quantity of contraband.Justice BR Madhusudhan Rao recently passed the order while rejecting two criminal petitions filed by Mohammed Rasheed and Mohammed Ibrahim, who were seeking regular bail in a case registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad Zonal Unit, under the NDPS Act.The petitioners, both residents of Hyderabad, were arrested at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Jan 2026 and have since remained in judicial remand.The petitioners contended that they were mere couriers and that the quantity seized from each of them was below the commercial quantity threshold of 20 kg. They further claimed that they were innocent and had been falsely implicated.The court, however, noted that the accused were travelling together and were found carrying the contraband concealed in a systematic and identical manner, indicating concerted action and a pre-arranged plan.It was observed that the material on record showed that the accused were part of a single syndicate and that each member, from carriers to receivers, played a vital role in trafficking a commercial quantity of the drug.The court pointed out that, in May 2026, it had dismissed bail pleas filed by the same accused along with others, holding that the bar under Section 37 of the NDPS Act applied. It found that no change in circumstances had been shown since that dismissal to justify a fresh consideration of bail.Relying on Supreme Court and high court precedents, the court held that prolonged incarceration or a pending investigation alone could not justify the grant of bail in NDPS cases.The court further held that filing successive bail applications without any change in circumstances amounts to seeking a review of an earlier order, which is impermissible under criminal law.
