Mumbai, April 3: A special NDPS court has acquitted a 75-year-old man from Kashmir and a 55-year-old man from Nagpada, arrested in July 2017, after they were allegedly found in possession of around 20 kg of charas. The court cited several loopholes in the search and seizure procedures adopted by the police.
Arrest and recovery details
According to the prosecution, the Anti Narcotic Cell (ANC) laid a trap near Safety Tank Chowk, Nagpada, on July 9, 2017, intercepting two men identified as Haji Abdul Rehman Ali Mohammed Hakim from Jammu & Kashmir and Irfan Maisher Qureshi from Nagpada.
Police claimed to have recovered 15.660 kg of charas from Hakim and 5.260 kg from Qureshi. Both remained in prison until October 2022, while the trial commenced in November 2018.
Defence highlights procedural violations
The defence contended that the accused were not apprised of their mandatory rights at the start of the search. Hakim understands only Urdu, while Qureshi understands Hindi and Marathi. The defence argued that the rights were only mentioned during the panchanama at the end of the process, rather than at the beginning.
Furthermore, the defence highlighted a procedural lapse regarding the contraband. Officers allegedly mixed contents from both packets before sending a single sample for testing, instead of taking separate samples from each packet as required by law.
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Court cites failure to follow safeguards
The court accepted these contentions, holding that the flaws in the police procedure were significant. Consequently, the court acquitted both Hakim and Qureshi, noting the failure to follow statutory safeguards under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
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