Allowed

Sanjay Goel v. State of Punjab

Punjab & Haryana HC24 Apr 2014CRM-M/11967/2014

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court of Punjab and Haryana granted regular bail to a licensed pharmaceutical manufacturer accused of supplying ketamine, finding allegations vague, evidence weak, and substances recovered within licensing limits.

What did the court decide?

Petitioner ordered to be released on bail on furnishing bonds/surety subject to condition not to commit the accused offence during trial.

Sanjay Goel Vs State of Punjab — Narcotics (NDPS) | Punjab & Haryana HC (2014)

¶1

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶2

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

¶3

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M) Decided on: April 24, 2014.

¶4

Sanjay Goel

¶5

..... Petitioner(s)

¶6

Versus

¶7

State of Punjab

¶8

..... Respondent(s)

¶9

*** * * CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M.S. BEDI**

¶10

PRESENT Mr.R.S.Rai, Sr. Advocate, with Mr.Sandeep Wadhawan, Advocate, for the petitioner.

¶11

Mr.Mikhail Kad., AAG., Punjab.

¶12

M.M.S. BEDI, J (ORAL).

¶13

Petitioner seeks concession of regular bail in a case which was registered at Police Station, Sadar, Patiala, at the instance of Inspector Avtar Singh, Incharge CIA, against 21 persons on the basis of secret information to the effect that the accused nominated in the FIR belong to different places i.e. Toronto, Delhi, Yamuna Nagar and Mathura etc. They, in connivance with each other indulged in purchase of medicines and after developing relations with managers/owners of certain drugs manufacturer units, prepared forged documents and on the basis of said forged documents they created fictitious firms and prepared pseudo ephedrine, ephedrine and ketamine etc. From the said chemical, they prepared S.

¶14

¶15

Raj Kumar Arora 2014.04.25 14:49 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

¶16

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶17

methamphetamine (ICE) and also prepared synthetic drugs, pseudo ephedrine, ephedrine, ketamine and heroin and sent the same to various parts of the country as well as in the foreign countries including Canada, Australia, England and other European countries by concealing the same in food packets and other products. As per the FIR, various renowned persons and higher officials from different departments are conniving with the culprits. It was further alleged that for the purpose of smuggling, all the said persons use stolen vehicles and illegal weapons and earn huge profits. All the persons in connivance with each other made youngsters as victims of drug addictions and ruined their lives. In case all the said persons are apprehended and searches are conducted in their residences, factories and vehicles, intoxicating substances, stolen vehicles and illegal arms and ammunition could be recovered in huge quantity.

¶18

So far as the petitioner is concerned, he is not named in the FIR nor any role is attributed to the petitioner.

¶19

The case of the prosecution is that during the course of investigation in the said FIR one accused namely Davinder Singh Narwal @ Dev was arrested from Ganganagar, Rajasthan on 5.1.2014 who admitted that he had been supplied Ketamine and other chemicals by the petitioner through Basant Srivastva and one Manish Kumar prior to the year 2007. On the basis of the disclosure statement of accused Davinder Singh Narwal made in the police custody that he had met the petitioner once in the year 2004, the

¶20

¶21

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶22

petitioner was arrayed as an accused. The petitioner was arrested on 16.1.2014 from Taj Palace, New Delhi where he had come to attend a marriage along with his family.

¶23

The petitioner is alleged to have made a statement in police custody during police remand admitting that he has got three factories where he had been manufacturing a number of medicines and that in the year 1999-2000, he came in contact with Basant Srivastva. He introduced himself to be trading in pharmaceuticals and informed him about the production of chemicals in his factory. He started supplying the chemicals to Basant Srivastva including Methamphetamine by underhand means as the demand of Ketamine was more with NRIs. Ketamine was being supplied to Basant Srivastva through Manish Kumar as per the demands as it used to give more profits. He was also introduced to Davinder Singh Narwal of Ganga Nagar, a Canadian citizen. He also obtained phone numbers of various customers from Basant Srivastva in the year 2004. Since Manish Kumar was indulging in smuggling of said psychotropic substances, the petitioner was kept as a witness. Ketamine was included under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (for short 'the NDPS Act') and as number of traders were earning bad name as such, he surrendered the licence of Ketamine and started manufacturing diphenoxylate hydrochloride and started earning profits worth crores of rupees. A number of medicines manufactured in his factories were exported. He had been

¶24

¶25

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶26

selling diphenoxylate hydrochloride to various smugglers and he had been supplying these to Davinder Singh Narwal and Munish Kumar etc. He had made a confession before the police that he had been selling adulterated diphenoxylate hydrochloride.

¶27

The police moved an application for obtaining search warrants of the units of the petitioner at Bombay for ascertaining whether the petitioner had been supplying Ketamine and ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine and whether quantity of said products was available in the manufacturing units. Search warrants were obtained on 17.1.2014. He was remanded to police custody for 5 days till 22.1.2014. The search was conducted on 17.1.2014 at the unit of the petitioner at M/s Medigraph Pharmaceuticals Private Limited along with Drug Inspector Jai Singh from Punjab but no Ketamine was found in the factory as the company had stopped its production in the year 2006-2007. A number of licenced pharmaceuticals drugs and other raw material were recovered from the factory premises. 881.8 kgs. of Diphenoxylate hydrochloride kept in a secured NDPS room was recovered. Besides this 45 liters of monomethylamine lying in the stock was also recovered by the Punjab Police.

¶28

Counsel for the petitioner has vehemently contended that the petitioner has got a valid licence to manufacture diphenoxylate hydrochloride and the quantity of diphenoxylate weighing 881.8 kgs. recovered from the factory premises is recorded

¶29

¶30

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶31

in the register maintained in RG-1 and the NDPS register. It was argued that the Central Bureau of Narcotic has granted quota licence to manufacture 2850 kgs. of diphenoxylate hydrochloride vide letter and licence dated 14.2.2014 valid upto 31.12.2014. The quota licences of the year 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014 renewed from time to time have been placed on record as Annexure P14. It has also been submitted that dipheoxylate hydrochloride lying in the factory of the petitioner is as per the record of the stock register and is within the permissible limits.

¶32

Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that so far as monomethylamine is concerned, it is neither a narcotic drug nor a manufactured drug or psychotropic substance. This is also not even a controlled substance. It is easily available from Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers (RCF), a government of India undertaking and several traders in drums of 170 kgs. each.

¶33

I have heard the member of the Special Investigation Team Inspector Vikram Brar, and gone through the police file. The member of the Special Investigating Team has stated that besides admission of the petitioner before the police regarding the fact that the petitioner had been supplying Ketamine prior to the year 2007 through Basant Srivastava and Munish Kumar, there is statement of Davinder Kumar Narwal who was arrested from Ganganagar on 5.1.2014 and has stated that he met petitioner once in the year 2004. The other evidence which is stated to be available

¶34

¶35

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶36

against the petitioner as per the police record is statement of Sukhdeep Singh @ Sippa who has stated that he was driver of Devender Singh Narwal and he along with Narwal used to visit Mumbai where the petitioner used to meet him and they use to have conversation with each other at a distance from him and the petitioner used to supply some plastic drums and containers.

¶37

I have considered the entire circumstances and the material gathered against the petitioner during the course of investigation. It is not disputed that the petitioner has got a valid licence to manufacture diphenoxylate hydrochloride and the recovery effected from his factory is duly recorded and was within the permissible limits for internal consumption in the country and for export purposes. The petitioner is authorised to manufacture 6300 kgs. of diphenoxylate hydrochloride from 1.1.2013. 6000 kgs. of diphenoxylate is meant for internal consumption in the country and 300 kgs. dipheoxulate hydrochloride is meant for export purposes as per the manufacture licence issued under State Drug Control Authority under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules framed thereunder as is apparent from Annexure P14 colly. So far as the statement of PWs Davinder Singh Narwal and Sukhdeep Singh Sippa and the admission before the police are concerned, the allegations regarding possession and supply of Ketamine are vague, uncertain and not substantiated by any corroborative evidence. Besides this it is pertinent to observe that Ketamine salt was not

¶38

¶39

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶40

prohibited drug in the year 2004 to 2007 in India as per the Notification of the Government No.S.O. 311 dated 10.2.2011 issued by the Central Government in the exercise of powers conferred under Section 3 of the NDPS Act Annexure P18, it was included as psychotropic substance. Salt of Ketamine not being a controlled drug substance uptil the year 2011, prima facie, will not attract any penalty especially when no recovery was effected of Ketamine after the year 2011. Even the recovery of Ketamine prior to the year 2011 cannot be proved on the basis of statements of the witnesses showing that they had seen the petitioner supplying Ketamine in the year 2004 and 2007. No doubt a strict view is to be taken regarding the manufacture, possession and illegal supply of narcotics, psychotropic substances and controlled substances in order to save the economy and youth of India but the objective to eradicate menace of manufacture, supply and consumption of psychotropic substances cannot be achieved by merely accusing a licenced manufacturer on the basis of suspicions without availability of sufficient, cogent, reliable and admissible evidence.

¶41

The petitioner has been in custody w.e.f. 16.1.2014. He has been thoroughly interrogated after obtaining police remand for more than 5 days. He can be granted the concession of bail for the following reasons: -

¶42

(i) The petitioner having not been specifically named in the FIR whereas 21 persons are specifically nominated on

¶43

¶44

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶45

secret information;

¶46

(ii) The allegations in the FIR which is not registered against the petitioner are not specific;

¶47

(iii) The statements of Davinder Kumar Narwal and Sukhdeep Singh regarding Ketamine which was declared a controlled drug in the year 2011 are vague, uncertain and prior to the year 2011. It will be debatable whether the petitioner can be said to have committed offence for having been found in possession of Ketamine a controlled drug for a period when it had not been notified as a controlled drug under Section 3 of the Act, especially when no Ketamine has been found in the manufacturing unit of the petitioner or at any other place belonging to the petitioner;

¶48

(iv) Recovery of quantity of diphenoxylate hydrochloride from the factory premises of the petitioner, prima facie, is within the limits of the licence having been properly accounted for as per Rules 41, 42, 45 and 46 of the NDPS Rules, 1985;

¶49

(v) The statement of the petitioner made before the police does not, prima facie, constitute an offence;

¶50

(vi) So far as Ketamine is concerned, there does not appear to be any confessional statement. There is no confession regarding the supply of diphenoxylate hydrochloride to any accused person;

¶51

(vii) The nature of evidence gathered till date is prima facie, only weak, vague and indirect evidence;

¶52

¶53

CRM-M-11967-2014 (O&M)

¶54

(viii) So far as monomethylamine is concerned, it does not fall within the ambit of NDPS Act;

¶55

(ix) The co-accused of the petitioner Basant

¶56

Srivastva has been granted the concession of regular bail;

¶57

(x) The petitioner has been in custody w.e.f.

¶58

16.1.2014; and

¶59

(xi) The petitioner having already been remanded to judicial custody for 5 days and the recoveries having been effected, no useful purpose will be served by keeping him in custody during the period of investigation and trial.

¶60

Without expression of any opinion on merits, the petition is allowed. The petitioner is ordered to be released on bail on his furnishing bail bonds/surety bonds to the satisfaction of Judge, Special Court, NDPS, Patiala, subject to the condition that the petitioner will not commit the offence of which he is accused of, during the entire period of trial.

¶61

(M.M.S. BEDI) April 24, 2014. JUDGE rka

¶62

Sanjay Goel v. State of Punjab

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Sanjay Goel v. State of Punjab

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Raman Masih Vs State of Punjab

Om Parkash Sabharwal Vs State of Haryana

Balwinder Singh Vs State of Punjab

Vicky Kumar Vs State of Punjab

Gurpal Singh and Anr. Vs State of Punjab and Anr.

Puneet Kaur Vs State of Punjab