MUMBAI, Oct. 6 -- The Bombay High Court on Monday granted default bail to eight accused in a case involving the seizure of 1,837 kg of mephedrone (MD), ruling that the seriousness of the alleged crime and the massive quantity of drugs seized cannot override an accused's legal right to bail when the prosecution fails to follow the required procedure. A single-judge bench of justice Milind Jadhav held that in cases involving commercial quantities of narcotics, investigators get 180 days to complete their probe, and any extension beyond that period must strictly comply with the safeguards laid down under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The court said the huge quantity of drugs seized and the seriousness of the allegations "could not be used to cure non-compliance with the procedure governing extension of that period". The case began with an FIR registered at Samarth police station in Pune, after two persons were arrested at Somwar Peth in February 2024 while allegedly carrying 500 grams of MD. As the investigation progressed, police made several more seizures. These included 663.8 kg of MD from Earthchem Laboratories at Kurkumbh MIDC, 319 kg from New Delhi, another 651 kg from a premises in New Delhi, and 148.748 kg from Sangli. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) later took over the investigation from the police and arraigned 20 accused in the case. The legal battle centred on what happened after the initial 180-day period for completing the investigation expired. The NCB sought an additional six months to complete the investigation, and a Pune court allowed the extension in August 2024....