South African national arrested in drugs case denied bail

Source:-https://www.newindianexpress.com

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court declined to grant bail to a petitioner, who is a South African national and against whom a case has been registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Hyderabad, under various sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act). Prima facie, the petitioner Mosiea Moosa has committed a heinous offence, the court observed while dismissing the bail plea.

The South African woman was arrested by the NCB in September 2015 for carrying prohibited substances under provisions of the NDPS Act and is in judicial remand since then. The officials intercepted her at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on August 30, 2015, and took her to Osmania General Hospital, where doctors retrieved cocaine capsules from her body using medical procedure. About 427 grams of cocaine was recovered from her.

Petitioner’s counsel Taquir Syed submitted that his client was entitled to bail under Section 437 of CrPC. The NCB officials have already concluded the investigation and filed charge sheet in the case, he said. Though the trial has commenced, the trial court is unable to conclude it due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he added, and urged the court to grant bail by imposing conditions.

Meanwhile, NCB Special Public Prosecutor V Gopalakrishna Gokhaley told the court that the petitioner woman was a habitual offender and as she is a South African national, securing her presence during trial would be difficult in the event of considering her bail petition, he said, and urged the court to dismiss the petition by relying on the Supreme Court judgment in the case of State of Kerala vs Rajesh.

After hearing both sides and perusing the material on record, Justice K Lakshman declined to grant bail to her, since the trial court has already commenced the trial. The judge directed the designated court i.e. Special Judge for trial of NDPS Act – cum – Metropolitan Sessions Judge at LB Nagar, Rangareddy district, to conclude the trial within six months.