Bombay High Court grants bail to man held by NCB for sending 4,824 Tramadol pills from Delhi via courier

In 2018, the Union government had declared Tramadol, a painkiller pharma drug, as ‘psychotropic substance’ to monitor its sale in the country, after the NCB had said it was being smuggled internationally and had possible supply links to terror group ISIS.

A single-judge bench of Justice Makarand S Karnik on April 3 passed an order on bail application by one Mohd Anas arrested by NCB on February 21, 2021 under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

As per prosecution, an intelligence officer of NCB, Mumbai, on February 18, 2021 had received information that a courier parcel was lying in the hub of Professional Courier at Damji Shamji Industrial Estate in Kurla (Wes), which the zonal unit of central agency seized three days later.

The consignment contained 4,824 medicinal capsules weighing 2.613 kilograms, the ingredient of which was Tramadol Hydrochloride, a psychotropic substance. The prosecution said that capsules were in commercial quantity and the parcel was sent at the instance of the bail applicant, therefore he should not be released on bail.

In February, last year, Anas was allowed to withdraw his previous bail plea with HC making a request to the trial court to expedite the trial and conclude it within one year. As the trial court could not complete it within one year, the HC last month granted an extension of six months.

The NCB lawyer submitted that five witnesses had already been examined with only four more yet to be examined, therefore the trial is likely to conclude soon.

The bench noted that the prosecution witness was absent twice, therefore the trial was not protracted at the instance of the applicant, who is cooperating with the court.

The judge noted that since four witnesses are yet to be examined, “the trial though is progressing, will take some time to conclude, now that the extension to conclude the trial is also granted.”

“There is no doubt that the trial court is facing a heavy workload. I do not propose to fix a further timeline… it is unlikely that the applicant will commit any offence during the pendency of the trial,” Justice Karnik noted.

Granting bail to him, the HC asked Anas not to leave Mumbai city without permission of the trial court and asked him to report to the police station concerned once a week till the conclusion of trial.