The Allahabad High Court has granted interim bail to two brothers arrested in connection with the alleged illegal sale of banned cough syrup, observing that no recovery was made from their possession and that similarly placed co-accused have already been granted relief.
Justice Karunesh Singh Pawar of the Lucknow Bench passed the interim bail orders on December 18 in separate applications filed by Vibhor Rana and Vishal Singh. The court has listed the matter for further hearing on January 5.
Rana and Singh were arrested on November 13 after the police accused them of diverting stock of Phensedyl cough syrup, a medicine banned due to its misuse. The prosecution case linked the brothers to the alleged racket based on statements given by co-accused Bittu Kumar and Sachin Kumar during investigation.
Opposing the bail pleas, the state government had strongly argued against granting any relief and sought time to place its detailed response on record. However, the High Court noted that no banned substance or incriminating material was recovered from either of the two applicants.
The court also took into account that three other accused in the same case — Shailendra Arya, from whose truck the banned cough syrup was recovered, along with Pawan Gupta and Devendra Kumar Vishwakarma — have already been granted bail. This parity, the court observed, weighed in favour of the applicants.
In its order, the High Court further referred to a similar case in which the accused were discharged after the court found that no offence was made out under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The bench noted that in the present case too, the implication of Rana and Singh was based solely on the statements of co-accused, without any independent recovery to support the allegations.
While granting interim bail, Justice Pawar directed the two brothers to cooperate fully with the investigation during the bail period. The court ordered that they must make themselves available whenever required by the investigating officer and strictly refrain from tampering with prosecution evidence.
The interim relief will remain in force until the next date of hearing, when the court is expected to consider the state’s reply and decide on the continuation of bail.
