In an application filed before the Delhi High Court by a Nigerian national seeking regular bail in a crime registered for offences under Sections 21/23/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act), a Single Judge Bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia dismissed the application, holding that there was nothing on record to believe that the applicant was innocent.
On 04-09-2022, a raiding team was constituted by the Investigating Officer upon the directions of the Director General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, where the Immigration Officer informed them that a Singaporean national had been detained under a lookout circular issued against him. After the necessary formalities, his custody was handed over to the IO and upon searching his bags, packets of heroin weighing 19.867 grams.
After seizing the contraband items, the team proceeded to a hotel in Dwarka, where they conducted further operations. The present applicant came to the hotel to take delivery of the contraband and paid $1000 to the Singaporean national in exchange for a dummy bag, which she thought was the contraband. The NCB team immediately intercepted the applicant.
The applicant contended that her arrest was illegal because she was not produced before the Special Judge, NDPS, or any Magistrate within 24 hours of her apprehension, and that the WhatsApp chats relied upon by the NCB did not reflect any complicity of the applicant in the alleged offence.
NCB opposed her bail on the grounds that her previous bail application was dismissed on 24-07-2025, and that there were no new grounds for granting bail. It was also contended that the applicant was issued a notice under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, and that she did not challenge the arrest at the first possible opportunity.
The Court stated that, since the recovered contraband was of commercial quantity, the twin conditions of Section 37 would come into play, and noted that the applicant had not challenged the legality of her arrest in the earlier bail applications. Despite this, the Court said that such an issue should be allowed to be raised at any stage.
The Court said that it would be incorrect to hold that the applicant should have been produced before the Special Judge, NDPS, or Magistrate within 24 hours of 04-09-2022, since she was not even detained, let alone arrested, on the said date. It was noted that the applicant was arrested on 05-09-2022 and produced before the Special Judge, NDPS, on 06-09-2022, and therefore, the argument regarding illegal arrest failed.
The Court was unable to find any material to satisfy itself that there were reasonable grounds to believe the applicant was innocent and thus, dismissed the bail application.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mr. S.S. Aggarwal
For Respondent – Mr. Arun Khatri (SSC), Ms. Shelly Dixit
