Mumbai: The special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court has rejected the bail pleas of NESCO staff and MBA students in the drug overdose deaths case. In its detailed order, the court observed that “greed for money turned a place of amusement into a graveyard for two persons”.
The court on Thursday refused bail to Raunak Khandelwal, a final-year MBA student, and Pratik Pandey, a second-year MBA student. Additionally, the court denied relief to Sunny Jain, a senior manager, and Balkrishnan Kurup, business head and vice president of live events and IP at NESCO.
The case pertains to an incident on April 11, where two MBA students died and several others were hospitalised following a suspected MDMA (ecstasy) overdose at a techno music concert held at NESCO Goregaon.
The court noted that the organiser allowed attendees to consume liquor despite being directed to ensure no narcotic drugs or alcohol were permitted at the event. The court described the incident as an example of poor management.
“It may be intentional, negligent and/or an act done under the greed of money. However, such an act has turned into a tragedy, ultimately the place of amusement becoming the graveyard of two persons. Thus, the organisers are primafacie responsible for negligence and mishap occurred in the event,” the court said.
Regarding the students, the court observed they are accused of bringing and distributing contraband among college friends. In the case of Khandelwal, the court stated that the supply of a yellow ecstasy tablet to a victim was sufficient to infer involvement in the crime, regardless of the specific weight found on his person. The court noted that investigators recovered 435gm of MDMA from Ayush Sahitya, making it hasty to categorise the recovery as a small quantity.
While denying bail to Pandey, the court remarked that the applicant tried to encash the chaotic conditions caused by mismanagement to sell contraband. The court further noted the submission of the prosecution that if released, the applicant might dissuade friends from disclosing facts to the investigating officer.
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