The applicant, Denish Surendra Jota, was arrested on 27 November 2021 in connection with an NDPS case registered at DCB Police Station, Surat, under Sections 8(c) and 22(c) read with Section 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The prosecution alleged that the applicant was a drug addict who purchased mephedrone from the principal accused and also sold it onwards, with his name appearing in multiple seizure diaries and his contacts linked via CDR analysis.

After an earlier bail application was rejected on merits and a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court was withdrawn, the present successive bail application was filed under Section 483 of B.N.S.S., 2023.

• Nothing was recovered from the conscious possession of the applicant — no contraband was directly found on him at the time of arrest.
• Co-accused persons implicated on the same footing, and some with even more serious charges, had already been enlarged on bail by a Coordinate Bench of the Gujarat High Court.
• Out of 312 total witnesses cited across related chargesheets, 61 witnesses were cited against the applicant — yet only 34 had been examined till date, indicating no real prospect of trial concluding within a reasonable timeframe.
• The applicant had been in continuous judicial custody since 27.11.2021 — over 3 years — making prolonged incarceration a direct violation of his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
• The successive bail application was maintainable as a subsequent event — co-accused with similar roles had been released — constituting a fresh ground not available at the time of the earlier application.

The Hon’ble Court held that the successive bail application was maintainable in view of the subsequent event of co-accused persons with similar roles being released on bail. On merits, the Court noted the complete absence of any possibility of trial concluding within a reasonable time, given the sheer volume of witnesses and the pace of proceedings before the Special NDPS Court, Surat.