KOCHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is in a shock after a trial court acquitted one of its major catches, an El Salvador citizen, who was nabbed for smuggling in 2kg of cocaine from Kochi airport based on an intelligence input in 2018.
Now to overcome the setback faced in the trial court, NCB has decided to appeal against the acquittal in the Kerala High Court after its legal team found that the lower court had passed the order without taking into consideration the statutory presumptions available under Sections 35, 54 and 66 of NDPS Act while
considering the case.
It was on May 8, 2018 that NCB arrested Johny Alexander Duran Sola who reached Kochi airport from Dubai. The arrest was celebrated as a big catch by NCB officials then claiming that the accused was part of an international drug smuggling racket.
But, the recent Ernakulam Sessions Court's order acquitting him of all charges has raised many eyebrows with the court pointing out certain lapses on the part of the NCB officials that resulted in the failure of the prosecution to prove the charges against Johny Alexander. The court, in its judgment, pointed out lapses by prosecution witnesses including the NCB officers like PW1, PW5 and PW6.
"PW6, an intelligence officer of the same rank of PW1, was entrusted with the investigation. Exhibits P26 to P42 were the documents prepared by him during the course of his investigation," the judgment said. PW6 admitted that he did not know the genuineness of exhibits P27, P31, P33, P35 and P36 series and P39. He had not verified whether they were correct or not.
The judgment also pointed out that PW6 said he had not known where and in whose custody the properties were before these were produced before the learned magistrate. Material Object 1 -- the navy-blue colour trolley bag from which the contraband was seized -- had a number lock. But, according to the prosecution witness, it was locked using MO16 (lock and key). PW1, PW3 and PW5 said the accused had given the key and it was opened using that. But MO16 was not seized as per any records.
None of the witnesses knew the lock's number. Interestingly, the investigating officer said that he had never seen MO1, MO16 or other material objects, it said.
However, denying any procedural lapse, counsel M V S Nampoothiry, who appeared for NCB, told TNIE that Sections 35, 54 and 66 of the NDPS Act make the trial in such cases different from the trial of IPC offences. "I am confident that the Kerala High Court will interfere with the order of the acquittal because of the legal infirmities that can be seen in the judgment of the case."