Mundra drug haul: SC refuses bail but says NIA terror financing allegation speculative
Mundra drug haul: SC refuses bail but says NIA terror financing allegation speculative
New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Tuesday called NIA's terror financing allegation against a Delhi-based businessman held in the ₹21,000 crore Gujarat's Mundra Port drug haul case as "premature" and "speculative" even as it rejected his bail plea.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said while the National Investigation Agency invoked the stringent anti-terror law UA and broadly linked the smuggling enterprise to trans-national syndicates with suspected affiliations, there was "no compelling reason" to currently link Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar and the proscribed terror outfits within or outside the country.
"We deem it necessary to clarify that, at this stage, it would be premature and speculative to extend the allegations against the appellant to the domain of terror financing. While the prosecution has invoked provisions of the UA and has broadly linked the smuggling enterprise to trans-national syndicates with suspected affiliations, there is no compelling reason to currently link the appellant and proscribed terrorist organisations, either within or outside the country," it said.
The evidentiary foundation to sustain such a grave allegation must be clear and compelling — something that can be seen only after a substantial portion of evidence is led by both the parties, the court added.
"We are not inclined to enlarge the appellant on regular bail at this stage. He shall be at liberty to renew his plea for regular bail after a period of six months, or at a stage where the ongoing trial has progressed substantially," it held.
The NIA, on the other hand, was ordered to submit to the special court an additional list of witnesses who, in its assessment, were sensitive or material, in other words, whose testimony could have a direct bearing on the role of the appellant or co-accused in the case.
"The special court is directed to list the matter twice in a month and record the statements of prosecution witnesses on a continuous and uninterrupted basis," it directed.
The bench said if the presiding officer of the special court was not designated so far, the Gujarat High Court chief justice would "do the needful" within a week.
The top court clarified its order was not on merits of the case and without prejudice to the trial proceedings.
The charge against Talwar must be evaluated in light of his alleged meetings in Dubai with a principal foreign accused; the transfer of documents through intermediaries for the clearance of a flagged consignment; efforts to retrospectively fabricate invoices and assign responsibility to others; the use of multiple firms allegedly connected to him to obfuscate the true nature of the transactions and his telephonic calls to certain co-conspirators, the bench said.
"These aspects, supported by the statements of protected witnesses and circumstantial linkages, currently meet the threshold of prima facie satisfaction regarding the appellant's complicity," it said.
Talwar was said to be accused of serious charges, which allegedly carry grave societal ramifications, including the facilitation of cross-border drug trafficking — an offence with well-documented links to organised crime and public health degradation.
"The seizure in the connected consignment is part of what the prosecution claims to be the largest heroin bust in Indian history, valued at over INR 21,000 crore. The scale and sophistication of the operation, involving foreign syndicates, shell firms, medical visas, and false documentation, elevates this case far beyond routine NDPS violations," the top court noted.
On April 23, the top court reserved its verdict on the bail plea after the NIA said the proceeds of sale were used for funding terror activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Talwar, who ran popular clubs in the national capital, was arrested by the agency in August, 2022, in what is termed as the biggest drug haul in the country.
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