Srinagar: A special court on Monday rejected the bail applications of two persons arrested by J&K Police with 2400 bottles of psychotropic drug, codeine phosphate, sold under brand name ‘B-PEN C’.
Special Judge (NDPS cases) Vinod Kumar, while rejecting the bail applications of Rameez Yousuf Dar of Nowgam and Owais Amin Bhat of Rawalpora Srinagar observed “the larger public interest in curbing drug menace is paramount, as highlighted in surveys showing alarming rise in substance abuse among youth (e.g., 1.3 crore cannabis users, 90 percent pharmaceutical addiction cases)”.
The judge said “the court cannot grant liberty to an accused against whom there is a prima facie case, merely on personal grounds, when gravity of the statute demands otherwise”.
He held that his court is sympathetic to the family circumstances of the accused, but the well-settled principle is that humanitarian grounds cannot override statutory provisions, particularly in cases involving commercial quantity of narcotic drugs.
The legislative intent behind Section 37 of the NDPS Act is to curb the menace of drug trafficking, and this intent must be given due consideration while deciding bail applications, he added.
“Keeping in view that the enactment of the NDPS Act is to curb the ever increasing menace of drug peddling its illegal possession, sale and its ramification on the society, the youth in particular and cause for increase in the crime rate, nature and seriousness of accusation against the applicant, the character of evidence, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, the larger interest of the society and State, I am of the view that no good ground is made out by the petitioner for enlarging him on bail,” judge Vinod Kumar said and rejected the separate applications filed by the duo.
The prosecution states that on February 8 2022, police Station Batmaloo received an information through reliable source to the effect that at Tengpora By-pass a consignment in the name of Sikander Pharma, NR Colony Bemina, has reached at a transport company office at Tengpora By-pass. … the consignment “contained huge quantity of contraband substances, used to drive youth into drug addiction thereby ruining their lives etc,” the information said.
The substance was seized and a case FIR No. 18/2022 U/S 8/21 NDPS ACT was registered and investigation set into motion.
During the course of investigation, the prosecution said, it was found that the consignment contained codeine phosphate under brand name ‘B-PEN C’ sealed bottles in 96 crates containing a total quantity of 2400 bottles, each bottle containing 100 ml liquid.
It said that Sikander Pharma Company is neither located in NR Colony Bemina nor it exists anywhere, which indicates that a particular person has managed to prepare fake and forged documents in the name and style of M/S Sikander Pharma for the purchasing and selling of contraband substances illegally among the youths.
Further during the investigation, one accused person, Sikander Firdous Ahmad, was arrested on the basis of statements of witnesses and evidence collected against him.
Later on, the name of Owais Amin also surfaced during the investigation and it came to fore that he too had managed to procure drugs under fake license.
