Mumbai, April 3 A special court here has acquitted two men, accused of transporting over 20 kilograms of drugs in 2017, citing that the prosecution has failed to adhere to mandatory legal safeguards and sampling protocols.
In the verdict passed on March 30, special judge R R Patare, hearing cases pertaining to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, cleared Haji Ali Mohammed Hakim (75) and Irfan Maisher Qureshi of all the charges.
The case dates back to July 9, 2017, when the Anti Narcotic Cell (ANC) of the Worli unit received a tip-off regarding drug delivery near Foras Road in Nagpada area of south Mumbai.
Acting on the information, the ANC team intercepted a taxi and apprehended Hakim (75) with 15.66 kilograms of charas, and Qureshi with 5.26 kg of drugs, the prosecution said.
Despite the substantial quantity of the contraband seized, the court found the legal foundation of the search and subsequent evidence collection to be fatally flawed.
The defence, led by advocate Anil Lala, successfully argued that the police failed to comply with Sections 50 and 52-A of the NDPS Act.
Under Section 50, accused persons must be informed of their right to be searched before a magistrate or a gazetted officer.
While the police claimed the duo waived this right, the court noted that the waiver was written by the police officer himself, not the accused.
The court held that the investigating team failed to follow Section 52-A, which requires an inventory to be certified and samples to be drawn in the presence of a magistrate.
Instead, the police "scratched" samples from the rolls of charas without measuring individual weights, failing to prove that a "representative sample" was ever truly collected, the order said.
The court emphasised that while the NDPS Act carries a presumption of guilt, the initial burden lies heavily on the prosecution to prove that strict procedural safeguards were followed.
Thus, the court ruled that the prosecution has failed to prove charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.