Court acquits 5 in hashish smuggling case
A Mumbai court acquitted five accused of smuggling hashish, citing police procedural lapses and lack of credible evidence after a six-year case.
MUMBAI: A special court for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cases recently acquitted five individuals accused of smuggling four kilogram of hashish, citing significant procedural lapses by the police.
The case, which had been going on for over six years, was decided by additional sessions judge Mahesh K. Jadhav, who found the evidence presented by the prosecution lacking credibility. The court criticised the police for failing to adhere to critical procedural safeguards outlined in the NDPS Act, leading to the acquittal of all five accused.
The case began on March 14, 2018, when the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) claimed to have arrested the accused at Infinity Mall in Andheri, Mumbai, with four kilogram of hashish.
According to the NCB, Ravi Kumar was allegedly delivering the narcotics to one Salim Naseem Khan, while the other accused - including Anup Gupta, Shashikant Ravindra Prabhu and Harshad Chandrakant Gawde - were involved in the conspiracy to distribute the drug.
Acting on a tip-off, the NCB had apprehended Kumar with 20 packets, each weighing 200 gram. The prosecution argued that the accused were part of an organised drug network that intended to sell the contraband.
The defence, comprising advocates Munira Palanpurwala and Tabish Mooman, challenged the prosecution case, focusing on investigative irregularities. They questioned the credibility of the prosecution’s key witness, intelligence officer Lav Kumar Singh, who admitted under cross-examination that he was not an eyewitness to the actual seizure.
The court in its verdict noted that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused were in possession of narcotics or were part of a larger conspiracy. It criticized the failure to produce essential witnesses, and the contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence, leading to reasonable doubt about the accused’s involvement. As a result, the court acquitted the accused of all charges leveled against them.