Reginamary Chellamani vs. State Rep By Superintendent Of Customs

2026 INSC 127
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. OF 2026
(arising out of SLP(Crl.) No. 18886/2025)

O R D E R
Leave granted.
The appellant, Reginamary Chellamani,
is aggrieved by the denial of regular bail
by the High Court of Judicature at Madras,
vide order dated 24.07.2025 passed in
Crl.O.P. No. 7857/2025, in relation to
Case R.R. No. 41/2021 (C.C. No. 225/2022
on the file of the learned Principal
Special Judge under EC and NDPS Act Cases,
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
Deepak Guglani
Date: 2026.02.05
17:33:19 IST
Reason:
Crl.A. @ SLP(Crl.) No. 18886/2025 1

Chennai), for the offences punishable
under Section 8(c) read with Sections
20(b)(ii)(C), 22(c), 23, 28 and 29 of the
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
1
Act, 1985 read with Section 135 of the
Customs Act, 1962 .
The amount of contraband substance
allegedly seized from the person of the
appellant, Reginamary Chellamani, is
stated to be above the commercial quantity
prescribed in that regard under the
aforestated enactment. We, however, find
that the appellant, Reginamary Chellamani,
has been in custody for 4 years 1 month
and 28 days as on date.
Given the length of incarceration
that the appellant has already suffered
and as an identically situated accused
person, who was travelling along with the
appellant, Reginamary Chellamani, on the
same flight, has been granted bail by this
Court, we are inclined to grant the same
1 “NDPS Act”, for short
Crl.A. @ SLP(Crl.) No. 18886/2025 2

relief to the appellant at this stage.
The appeal is accordingly allowed,
setting aside the impugned order dated
24.07.2025.
The appellant, Reginamary Chellamani ,
is directed to be released on bail in
connection with the aforestated NDPS case,
on stringent terms and conditions to be
fixed by the trial Court. In addition,
the appellant, Reginamary Chellamani,
shall surrender her passport before the
trial Court.
The appellant, Reginamary Chellamani,
shall cooperate during the course of the
trial and shall not take unnecessary
adjournments.
The trial Court shall endeavour to
conclude the trial at the earliest.
We clarify that we have not made any
observations/comments on the merits of the
case and any observation made in this
order is meant only for the limited
Crl.A. @ SLP(Crl.) No. 18886/2025 3

purpose of grant of bail.
We may also note at this stage that
the appellant did not cross examine the
witnesses at the initial stage and it was
only after she engaged her own counsel and
her application for re-examining those
witnesses was allowed that she was
permitted to do so.
It is incumbent upon the trial Courts
dealing with criminal proceedings, faced
with such situations, to inform the
accused of their right to legal
representation and their entitlement to be
represented by legal aid counsel in the
event they cannot afford a counsel. The
trial Courts shall record the offer made
to the accused in this regard, the
response of the accused to such offer and
also the action taken thereupon in their
orders, before commencing examination of
the witnesses.
This procedure requires to be adopted
and put in practice scrupulously.
Crl.A. @ SLP(Crl.) No. 18886/2025 4

This order shall be communicated to
the Chief Justices of all the High Courts
to enable suitable instructions being
issued in this regard to all the concerned
trial Courts within the State.
Pending application(s), if any, shall
stand disposed of.
......................J.
(SANJAY KUMAR)
......................J.
(K. VINOD CHANDRAN)
NEW DELHI;
FEBRUARY 05, 2026.
Crl.A. @ SLP(Crl.) No. 18886/2025 5