MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently acquitted a man, who was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in 2021 on charges that he allegedly sold one kg of heroin to be transported from Kanniyakumari to Sri Lanka in 2008.
Justice KK Ramakrishnan issued the orders after the petitioner, Ronald Sateeth alias Anand, challenged the Madurai lower court’s order of 2021. The facts of the case, as per the HC judgment, are that on August 6, 2008, the South Zonal Unit of the Narcotics Crime Bureau in Chennai received a tip-off that a Sri Lankan national, Umar Gul, was involved in the trafficking of drugs between Sri Lanka and India through a Madhya Pradesh resident, Dayaram. Reportedly, Dayaram was caught in Kanniyakumari with one kg of heroin, which he allegedly purchased from Anand and another individual. Based on Dayaram’s statement, Anand was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2021.
However, Justice Ramakrishnan, who heard Anand’s appeal, noted that though Anand was convicted based on phone calls made between him and the main accused, the prosecution failed to produce evidence to show that the phone number in question belonged to Anand.
Moreover, the lower court had already acquitted Anand of conspiracy charges, Justice Ramakrishnan pointed out. Since there was no other evidence to prove Anand’s involvement in the case, he was acquitted.