The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court granted bail in an NDPS prosecution after finding no incriminating material against the applicant beyond statements recorded under Section 67 from him and co-accused.
Judge / Bench — Justice Sanjeev Kumar
Applying the rule that such confessional statements are inadmissible, it found no independent evidence supporting his involvement and held that Section 37’s restrictions did not prevent release on the material presented. Bail required a personal bond and surety of Rs. 1 lakh each, alongside attendance and non-interference conditions. The findings were expressly confined to bail. The connected criminal writ petitions were separated for later hearing. For counsel, the decisive task is an evidence audit of the charge sheets, distinguishing a confession-only implication from a case with independent corroboration.
Case — Umesh Kumar v. UT of J&K and another · Bail App. 299/2025 · 7 October 2026 · Jammu wing
Advocates appearing — Applicant in Bail App.299/2025 — Mr. Yash Agarwal, Advocate. Petitioners in WP(Crl)84/2025, 7/2026 and 71/2026 — Mr. Sachin Gupta, Advocate, and Ms. Arsha Sharma, Advocate. Petitioner in WP(Crl)20/2026 — Not named in the order. Respondents — Mr. Vishal Sharma, DSGI, with Mr. Karan Sharma, CGSC.