Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has held that a chargesheet filed within the statutory period under the NDPS Act is valid even if it does not include the forensic examination report.
The bench of Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee passed the order while rejecting the bail plea of a man arrested for alleged possession of narcotic substances containing codeine phosphate and triprolidine hydrochloride.
The accused argued that he was entitled to default bail since the chargesheet, though submitted within 180 days, lacked the chemical analysis report. His lawyers also sought parity with a co-accused who had been granted bail on similar grounds, and urged the court to refer the issue to a larger bench due to conflicting decisions by coordinate benches. However, the court ruled that the matter did not require reference to a larger bench, as binding decisions from earlier coordinate benches had already settled the issue. The bench cited previous rulings which held that a chargesheet under Section 173(2) of the CrPC is not rendered incomplete merely because the forensic report is missing at the time of filing. A supplementary charge sheet can be filed later when the report is available.
Justice Mukherjee observed that subsequent bail orders, including those in the co-accused’s case, had not considered these binding precedents. He emphasised that judicial discipline requires courts to follow earlier rulings unless overruled by a larger bench.
“A chargesheet without the chemical examination report, if filed within the statutory time and with sufficient material, is nonetheless a valid chargesheet and does not entitle the accused to default bail,” the court held.
The judge also noted that the trial was about to begin and that the rigorous conditions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act applied in this case. The bail plea was
accordingly dismissed.
The ruling aligns with similar views taken by the Bombay and Guwahati High Courts. The Calcutta High Court made it clear that until the Supreme Court delivers a final verdict on the issue, its own existing legal position — recognising such chargesheets as valid — will remain binding and continue to govern similar cases.