102 Kg Heroin Recovery At Attari Check Post: Delhi High Court Grants Bail To Trader, Says He Was Oblivious Of Contraband Hidden In Consignment

Observing that prima facie he was used as an intermediary without knowledge of the smuggled contraband, the Delhi High Court has granted bail to the proprietor of Shree Balaji Trading Company in a case where 102.136 and 0.648 kgs of heroin were intercepted in a truck carrying licorice roots (Mulethi) from Afghanistan at the Attari border in Punjab's Amritsar last year.

"On a prima facie assessment ... this Court is of the considered opinion that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the petitioner's guilt may not be proved and further there is no material on record to show that he was likely to commit any offence while on bail," said the court, adding the trial in the matter is likely to take some time, and it would not be prudent to keep the petitioner behind bars for an indefinite period, particularly considering his medical condition.

Justice Anish Dayal said the petitioner Vipin Mittal cannot be said to have been in a conscious possession of the contraband, since despite being the consignee, the contraband was intercepted before it came to his possession.

"Secondly, from the sequence of events, facts and circumstances, it seems prima facie that the petitioner was merely acting as a trader oblivious of the contraband hidden in the consignment, since he was consigning it at a commercial price and selling it to a named buyer at a commercial price and making a reasonable profit out of it. Thirdly, there is no evidence on record to show that there was discussion regarding contraband between the petitioner and the Afghani exporter," said the court.

The FIR was registered under Sections 8(c), 21 (c), 23 (c), 27 (a), 29 of NDPS Act and the chargesheet was filed in December, 2022. The case was probed by the National Investigation Agency, which alleged that the petitioner intended to earn huge profits from smuggling heroin concealed in licorice roots (mulethi). 

The court noted that the petitioner has attached various certificates of appreciation for his business, including one from the Bar Council of Delhi. "Therefore, there is material on record to suggest that petitioner had clean antecedents and a reputation in the industry, and no apparent connection with other accused persons involved in the recovery," it observed.

The court said the acceptance of Rs. 11 lakhs in cash as an advance for the consignment prima facie seems to be in context of a regular trading deal and there is no windfall gain that was found in the hands of the petitioner.

"Fifthly, the petitioner clearly had an established reputation in the industry as evident from the certificates of appreciation from multiple state authorities, and was an unlikely candidate for involvement in large scale smuggling of contraband. Sixthly, there is no suggestion or evidence that the earlier transaction with Nazir [consignor] was illegal or suspicious," it added.

Justice Dayal also said prima facie the petitioner is not a flight risk as he is a permanent resident of Delhi with family, and has always cooperated in the investigation. 

"Besides, there were no independent witnesses, except for official witnesses and therefore the question of tampering with evidence does not arise. Further sections 17, 18 and 22 A of the UAPA Act were struck off from the charge-sheet and the question of any terror activity therefore does not arise. No evidence has been put forward by the investigation to show that there was any particular chat regarding the contraband in any of these communications," the court added.

The court also noted that he is suffering from a serious medical condition of blood cancer. "The petitioner is suffering from a critical illness (and requires consistent medical attention, as evident from the medical report extracted above) and is not a flight risk, being a resident of Delhi and has clean antecedents," it added.

Case Title: Vipin Mittal v. NIA

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 465

Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal with Advocate Nipun Katyal Chaitanya appeared for the petitioner

ASG Chetan Sharma with SPP Shilpi Singh appeared for NIA

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