Celebrity hairstylist S ur aj God am be gets bail

Merely because the punishment for the offence is up to 10 years, the bail cannot be refused, the special court told NCB.

A special court, designated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, on Tuesday, granted bail to celebrity hairstylist Suraj Godambe who had been arrested for alleged possession of drugs.

In his order granting bail to Godambe, special judge under the Act HS Satbhai said that the applicant does not have any criminal antecedents. In its absence, section 37 of the NDPS Act cannot be invoked and bail cannot be refused.

The provision pertains to offences under the l aw being cognisable and non-bailable. While granting bail, the court has to be satisfied that the applicant is not guilty of the offence and will not commit a similar offence while on bail. Judge Satbhai further stated that the fact is that 11 gm of cocaine was seized from him, which is a non-commercial quantity. Merely because the punishment for the offence is up to 10 years, the bail cannot be refused.

The apprehension of the NCB of his fleeing away and pressurizing witnesses, the court said, can be taken care of by imposing necessar y conditions of attendance at the agency’s office. Godambe was arrested last month along with an alleged drug peddler L al Chandra Yadav from Link Road, Oshiwara. The agency claimed that, from their joint possession, 11 gms of cocaine was recovered.

The hairstylist had sought bail on the grounds that he has no criminal antecedents, was falsely implicated and that the quantity the agency claimed to have recovered is a noncommercial quantity as classified under the NDPS Act. NCB had opposed his bail plea arguing that the punishment for the offences he is charged under is up to 10 years and that the investigation was still in progress. Yadav was also granted bail the same day by Judge Satbhai.