FSL Report Withheld for Months, Police Letter Overwritten: Rajasthan High Court Grants Third Bail, Orders Inquiry

The petitioner was arrested in FIR No. 0804/2025 of Police Station Mansarovar, Jaipur, under Sections 8 and 22 of the NDPS Act; his first two bail applications were rejected on 13 March and 24 April 2026 (paras 1-2). His counsel said the charge-sheet of 11 March 2026 was filed without the FSL report of 27 January 2026, which named the substance as Mephedrone although the FIR recorded Methamphetamine (para 3). The Public Prosecutor first said the report reached the Investigating Officer only in August 2026 (para 4). The Court summoned the Investigating Officer, who produced a letter dated 26 August 2026, and then the DCP (South) and an FSL official (paras 5-6).

The DCP (South) told the Court that the letter was forged, its dates overwritten to show no delay, and that the constable who carries documents for the police station had received the report in time but had not placed it before the SHO who filed the charge-sheet; the constable was suspended (paras 7-8). On the FSL official's account, the report was collected on 16 February 2026 and recorded at the police station (paras 12-13). The Court held that the letter was prepared by overwriting to mislead it, and that the report, concealed for almost six to seven months, was neither filed with the charge-sheet nor placed before the trial court, obstructing the earlier bail hearings and the trial; as NDPS bail applications are usually not entertained without the FSL report, this was serious (paras 15-16). It was not convinced that a constable acting as a messenger would do this on his own (para 17). Noting no criminal antecedents, a recovery made from another person and a long trial ahead, it observed that prima facie he appeared to have been falsely implicated but declined to comment on the merits, and granted bail (paras 18-19).