Allahabad High Court : Anticipatory Bail Maintainable in NDPS Cases, Repeals UP’s 2018 Restriction

The Allahabad High Court ruled that with the implementation of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, anticipatory bail applications under the NDPS Act in Uttar Pradesh are now maintainable in Uttar Pradesh, effectively nullifying the earlier bar under the UP CrPC (Amendment) Act 2018.

Justice Manish Mathur held that Section 482 of the BNSS, which replaces Section 438 of the repealed CrPC, overrides any state-level restrictions previously imposed under Section 438(6).

The bench held that the 2018 amendment is impliedly repealed as central law prevails in cases of conflict. (Sudhir Kumar Chaurasia v. State of U.P.)