Turkish national languishing in jail due to non-furnishing of bail bond, court reduces amount

New Delhi [India], April 27 : A Delhi court on Friday modified a bail order a second time and reduced the amount of bond to be furnished by a Turkish national who is languishing in jail despite getting bail due to the non-furnishing of bail bond.
He was granted bail in December 2023 but could not furnish the bail bond. He was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in 2018 and has been in custody since then.
Initially, the bond amount was Rs one lakh with two surety bonds of same amounts which was modified to the bond of Rs one lakh with one surety bond in the like amount on February 26, 2024.
Special judge (NDPS) Sudhir Kumar Sirohi of Patiala House Court modified the condition of bail granted to one Erbil Han in an NDPS case.
"In the above circumstances, the condition of the bail has been modified to the extent that now accused has to furnish personal bond for Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount, the rest of the conditions of the order dated December 14, 2023, and February 26, 2024, will remain the same."
The accused was granted bail on December 14, 2023, and the said order was modified on February 26, 2024, and the accused was granted permission to furnish personal bonds for Rs one lakh with one surety of like amount but to date bail bond has not been furnished by the accused.
Advocate Rahul Sahani, counsel for the accused, submitted that due to the poor social strata of the accused, a bail bond could not be furnished.
A charge sheet has been filed and after the cognizance, the accused has been charged under section 22 (c), 23 (c) read with section 29 of the NDPS Act, the minimum punishment provided is 10 years which may extend to 20 years.
During arguments on bail plea, it was submitted by Advocate Rahul Sahani that the accused has been in Judicial custody since 24.09.2018 and complaint has already been filed and the matter is at the stage of prosecution evidence.
There are 13 prosecution witnesses cited in the list of witnesses out of which only 01 prosecution witness has been examined, Sahani added.
Advocate Mukesh Malik, SPP for NCB had submitted that based on secret information, there is recovery of 1,27,000 tramadol tablets in the present matter (commercial quantity).
It was further argued by the SPP that the accused is a foreign national and if bail is granted to the accused then the accused will abscond.
While granting bail, the court had imposed conditions including that the accused will file a certificate of assurance from the embassy, High Commission of Turkey that the accused will not leave the country and shall appear before the Court on every date of the hearing.
However, this condition was waived later.