The Delhi High Court granted bail to a person allegedly importing contraband goods in the guise of green tea.
The Petitioner, Ahmed Hassan Muhammed is accused of the offenses under Sections 8, 22, 23, and 29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS). He was arrested on February 5, 2019, and since then, he is in judicial custody. The petitioner has sought bail during the pendency of the trial.
The allegations levelled against the petitioner were that some contraband goods would be imported from Addis Ababa by Ethiopian Airlines in a consignment of packets of green tea.
The authorities also had the information that in the guise of green tea, khat leaves also known as Kat/Qat/Chat/Mira, which is listed in the list of psychotropic substances at S. No. 110X of the Schedule of NDPS Act, as per Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue Notification issued from F No. 12019/3/2016 dated February 27, 2018, however, the possibility of any other kind of contraband could not be ruled out.
Ms.Sushma Sharma, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was apprehended on February 4, 2019, and it is an admitted fact that no incriminating material was recovered from his person and that he has been falsely roped in this case without any evidence.
It was also submitted that there is no corroborative evidence on record to connect the petitioner with the offense in question and out of 41 witnesses, so far only 04 witnesses have been examined by the prosecution, and trial of this case is likely to take time and that the entire trial is vitiated due to tampering of the seal by FSSAI and mixing of samples before drawing any representative sample. Thus, the petitioner deserves concession of bail.
The single-judge bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait opined that the petitioner deserves bail. Accordingly, the petitioner is directed to be released on bail forthwith on his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs.25,000 with one surety in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the Trial Court.
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