Chandigarh, June 8 -- A special court in Chandigarh on Friday dismissed the regular bail application of a 67-year-old man, accused of conspiring to plant narcotics in a lawyer's vehicle and implicate him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The order was passed by judge Raman Goklaney against Khairati Lal in connection with the FIR registered in 2022 at Sector 11 police station under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 20 (offences relating to cannabis/ganja) of the NDPS Act. According to the prosecution, 1.365 kg of ganja was recovered from a Honda City car belonging to advocate Ashok Sehgal after the police control room got an anonymous tip-off in September 2022. During the investigation, Sehgal alleged that the contraband had been planted in his vehicle by relatives involved in a long-standing property dispute with him. Investigators traced the PCR calls to a mobile number allegedly linked to Khairati Lal. Call detail records and other electronic evidence were cited to establish communication between the accused and his co-accused family members around the time of the incident. Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution argued that Khairati Lal had been declared a proclaimed offender in the present case. It further submitted that he had earlier been convicted in a bank robbery case and was also declared a convicted proclaimed offender by the Himachal Pradesh high court after failing to surrender during suspension of sentence proceedings. The defence contended that no drug was recovered from the accused's possession, that the case rested largely on circumstantial and electronic evidence, and that the accused was suffering from serious health issues, including a past liver transplant. Rejecting the plea, the court observed that the allegations were grave as they involved the alleged planting of narcotics to misuse stringent NDPS provisions and settle a civil dispute. The court also expressed concern over the accused's alleged history of evading legal proceedings and held that there was a reasonable apprehension that he could abscond if released on bail. While denying relief, the court directed the superintendent of Burail Model Jail to ensure regular medical examination and specialised follow-up treatment for the accused in view of his liver transplant history....