JAMMU, March 23 -- The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that completion of one-third of the maximum imprisonment period does not automatically entitle an undertrial to bail in serious offences under the NDPS Act. The Court ruled that Section 479 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) cannot be interpreted as conferring an indefeasible right to release merely on the basis of length of custody. Justice Shahzad Azeem passed the order while dismissing Bail application filed by Gurjit Singh, who had sought bail in a case registered under Sections 8, 21, 29 and 60 of the NDPS Act. The petitioner argued that he had remained in custody for more than seven years and had therefore become entitled to bail after completing on...