No X-Ray, doctor’s statement: Why Afghan national who ‘swallowed 918 grams of heroin’ was acquitted

-The prosecution has not satisfactorily proved strict and meaningful compliance with Section 50 NDPS Act at the stage when suspicion of internal concealment was acted upon.

-The prosecution has not produced the best medical evidence, namely the X-ray material and the complete hospital record, to prove ingestion.

-Thirdly, the doctor’s cross-examination weakens the continuity between expulsion and locker preservation.

-Fourthly, the translator’s evidence is inconsistent.

-Fifthly, the seizure chain lacks independent corroboration such as photographs, videography, CCTV or properly proved hospital inventory.

How the case broke down

No reports

As per the NCB, Sediqui had been taken to Safdarjung Hospital for medical management and he allegedly expelled 87 capsules from his body between November 6 and November 10, 2020. It claimed the contraband was intended for co-accused Suliaman Agha Saihoon, who jumped bail and was declared a proclaimed offender on February 11, 2026.

While the entire case rested on the internal concealment of drugs, the prosecution had failed to place X-ray reports, radiological films, or complete hospital records on judicial record. The judge noted that without these objective documents, the allegation of ingestion remained uncorroborated.

Doctor’s statement

Among the biggest lapses pointed out by the judge rested on a doctor’s statement pertaining to the chain of custody between alleged expulsion and seizure of the drugs.

As per the NCB, the accused had expelled the capsules during his hospitalisation. These were washed and kept in a polythene packet in a sealed locker beside his bed.

During his examination in chief, Dr Bhoor Singh, the primary medical witness in the case, supported the prosecution’s case — that Sediqui expelled capsules during hospitalisation and that the NCB team came and took the capsules from the locker on November 10, 2020.

But during his cross-examination, the doctor said Sediqui had not passed any stool in his presence, that the capsules were not washed and kept in polythene in his presence, or kept in the locker.

“These statements are of considerable consequence. Once the doctor’s presence is absent at the stages of stool passage, washing, polythene placement and locker placement, the prosecution is left without a reliable link connecting the expelled capsules to the capsules later seized from the locker. In a body-concealment case, the first link is everything,” the court said.

“If the prosecution cannot show with satisfactory assurance that the items placed in the locker were the very items expelled from the accused, then the later seizure, however formally conducted, remains exposed to doubt. This further becomes relevant in the absence of any X-ray film showing the presence of the contraband inside the body of the accused,” it added.

Question over translation

The court also said the NCB did not strictly follow the mandatory safeguard of informing the suspect of his right to be searched before a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer. Since Sediqui is a foreign national, the judge highlighted that the prosecution failed to prove he was informed of these rights in a language he understood.

“… there is uncertainty as to who translated at the airport, whether PW10 (translator) was present there at the relevant stage, whether any notice was served in his presence, and whether he actually signed the panchnama. The contradiction is not peripheral. It goes to the very question of whether the accused was legally and effectively apprised of his rights,” the judge said.