[NDPS case] Is accused entitled to default bail if there is no chemical analysis report along with final report? Supreme Court asked to decide

Is an accused is entitled to statutory bail under Section 167(2) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) when no chemical analysis report is filed along with the final report, within the 180 days period mandated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act)?.A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court pointing out contrary views taken by different High Courts and calling upon the apex court to conclusively settle the issue (Sameer v. State of Kerala)..The plea was filed by one Sameer challenging a judgment of the Kerala High Court which had held that statutory bail cannot be granted to accused if final report has been filed within the specified period even without the chemical examination report, if the said chemical examination report is used only as a supplementary evidence or corroborative evidence to prove the charge sheet..The High Court said that default bail can be granted only in such cases where prosecution cannot prove a case without a chemical examination report.“A Final Report filed in NDPS case without Chemical Analysis report is nothing but an incomplete report and hence the petitioner is liable to be released on default bail. The view of the High Court in the 1st impugned order that default bail can be granted only if the prosecution cannot prove its case without aid of chemical analysis report is completely erroneous. It is submitted that the nature and exact form of the contraband can be confirmed only with a chemical analysis report,” the plea drawn by advocates Mathai Muthirenthy and Anitha Muthirenthy and filed through advocate Sriram Parakkat said..The allegation by the prosecution was that 44.56 grams of MDMA, 1286.51 grams of Hashish oil and 340 grams of ganja were seized from the apartment of the petitioner. Final report in the case was filed on April 12, 2021 without a chemical analysis report.The petitioner approached the High Court seeking statutory bail on this ground which was denied.The prosecution stated that chemical examination report will be filed within two weeks, even though 180 days was over by then and no extension was obtained as per proviso to S. 36-A (4) of NDPS Act. However, the prosecution was unable to file the chemical examination report within the said period of two weeks also.The petitioner then approached the High Court a second time seeking bail which was also dismissed leading to the present plea before the Supreme Court.The petition placed reliance on judgments of Punjab & Haryana High Court, Karnataka High Court as well as Coordinate Bench of the Kerala High Court itself which had ruled that the requirement of chemical examination report is an absolute necessity and there are no exceptions provided.However, contrary view was taken by Rajasthan and Bombay High Courts, it was submitted."Hence, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to settle the issue by making an authoritative pronouncement," the plea said..Regarding the Kerala High Court’ s reasoning that default bail can be granted only in such cases where prosecution cannot prove a case without a chemical examination report, the petitioner submitted that it was an erroneous, imaginary distinction created by the High Court.“The only way to establish a prima facie case can be on the basis a chemical examiner's report to identify whether the material seized is actually a contraband or not, or what is the quantity of the material seized….The opinion of an expert witness cannot be reckoned as sufficient for proving a prima facie case,” the petition said.