Shimla, Nov. 4 -- The Himachal Pradesh High Court has made it clear that bail cannot be denied to an accused merely because they are not a native of Himachal Pradesh.
Justice Rakesh Kainthla, while deciding a regular bail petition filed by Ugma Ram in a narcotics case, said that "residence or place of origin cannot be a valid ground to refuse bail when other legal conditions are satisfied."The case involved the recovery of 7.033 kg of poppy husk from a vehicle in Solan district. The Court noted that the seized quantity was of an intermediate level, not a commercial one, and therefore the strict provisions of Section 37 of the NDPS Act did not apply.
Rejecting the State's argument that the accused, being from another State, might abscond, ...