Mumbai: While agencies claim to be actively involved in curbing drug peddling, many accused have managed to walk free after spending years in jail, with courts citing “technical lapses”, including non-compliance with search, seizure and arrest protocols on the part of law enforcement agencies. In 14 narcotics cases disposed of by special courts so far this year, accused in 10 cases were acquitted after police “failed to comply” with mandatory provisions leading to arrest.
The FPJ highlights some recent cases in which accused persons benefited due to non-compliance with protocols. Vijay Kunchikurve, 35, was caught by Dharavi police in June 2015 for allegedly supplying drugs to youths in the area. On July 14, he was acquitted by a special court, which noted a lack of evidence regarding the nature of the contraband he allegedly supplied.
A day later, another accused, Saraswati Parma Naidu alias Sarsa from Kalbadevi, walked free. She was caught by the AntiNarcotic Cell (ANC) with alleged possession of 1.27kg of heroin in June 2021. While acquitting her, the court refused to accept the forensic report after finding procedural flaws in the sampling of drugs. On May 15, a special court acquitted Mansoor Khan, 55, who was booked by Wadala police in June 2015 for allegedly possessing 2.4kg of ganja and 500 grams of a white-coloured powder suspected to be narcotics.
“The prosecution has failed to prove that from the stage of collection of samples till their deposit in the forensics lab, the seals remained intact. This indicates every possibility of tampering with the samples,” observed the special court. On May 2, a special court acquitted Kavita Sonkamble, 60, from Panvel, who was caught by the ANC in May 2011 for allegedly possessing 15kg of ganja. She was acquitted for “failure to follow the mandatory search and seizure provisions”.
On April 1, businessman Sammugavel Vel Tevar, 61, Santosh Thakur, 47, and Satish Dixit, 44, who were caught in October 2012 for alleged drug trafficking, were acquitted as the “mandatory procedure was not followed”. On March 30, a special court acquitted Haju Hakim, 75, from J&K, and Irfan Qureshi, 50. They were caught on July 9, 2017, with alleged possession of 21kg of charas. The court flagged “procedural flaws” in sample collection. On February 2, Promise Khalishwayo, 34, a foreign national, was acquitted after she was searched by male officers. She was allegedly caught with 2.9kg of heroin at the international airport in February 2021.
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