Six years on, man discharged from drugs case in view of negative CA report

Mumbai Six years after he was booked for alleged possession of 100 grams of Mephedrone (or MD) by Dadar police, a South Mumbai resident was discharged by a special NDPS court after the chemical analysis report revealed that the seized substance was not the banned synthetic stimulant, but Sodium Carbonate

Mumbai Six years after he was booked for alleged possession of 100 grams of Mephedrone (or MD) by Dadar police, a South Mumbai resident was discharged by a special NDPS court after the chemical analysis report revealed that the seized substance was not the banned synthetic stimulant, but Sodium Carbonate.

Six years on, man discharged from drugs case in view of negative CA report

Mayuresh Parkar had to spend around 7-and-half months behind bars after he was arrested on December 23, 2016, during a routine check before the new year eve. The samples from the contraband material seized from Parkar were sent for examination.

The CA report of the ‘contraband’ samples, which came in March 2017, revealed that it was not MD but Sodium Carbonate. On the basis of the report, Parkar’s lawyer obtained bail in September 2017 and he was released from jail on September 6, 2017.

After coming out on bail, Parkar had moved a plea for CCTV footage of the place from where he was arrested claiming illegal arrest. His plea, however, was never heard. On April 08, 2022, Parkar moved a discharge plea citing the negative CA report.

The prosecution opposed the plea stating that only because the CA report was negative, the accused cannot be discharged. He also prayed that the chemical analyzer should be called in as a witness as the report was inconclusive.

Parkar’s lawyer, on the other hand, argued that he was falsely implicated by the police and was arrested illegally by the Dadar police.

After considering the report and the arguments the court observed that it was necessary to prove that the substance seized from the applicant / accused was narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance.

The CA report produced by the prosecution reveals that “exhibit does not contain Mephedrone. However, Na (Sodium) and CO3 (Carbonate) radicals are detected in the Exhibit,” the court noted. “It does not show that the sample forwarded to FSL contained any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance. Therefore, there are no sufficient grounds to proceed against the applicant / accused,” the court observed.