MUMBAI, August 8: The Bombay High Court last week granted bail to Capt Zaraius Dastur, the Air India pilot arrested in October last year under the Customs and NDPS Acts for allegedly attempting to smuggle out 1.080 kg of heroin.Justice V H Bhairavia refused to stay the order to enable the department to appeal. Dastur's defence was that he was not aware of the contents of the suitcase given to him by another accused, Dinshaw Pastakia. He had agreed to carry the suitcase in good faith, believing Pastakia's story that he wanted to send six sweaters to his (Pastakia's) son in the US.The High Court, had denied bail to the pilot in May this year. Dastur applied again in July, this time stating ``change in circumstances''. One of these new circumstances was that when the High Court earlier rejected the bail petition, `an important piece of evidence' had been missed out. That was an affidavit signed by Pastakia on November 12, 1997, 33 days after Dastur's arrest, declaring that Pastakia had given the bag toDastur to be delivered in New York without letting him know about the concealed heroin. The affidavit confirms the statement made by Pastakia before customs officers on the day that he and Dastur were arrested, and therefore is sufficient evidence under the NDPS Act, under which the onus of proving innocence is on the accused.The High Court while rejecting the application in May 1998, had made prima facie observations. The judge was concerned with why the abnormal weight of the suitcase and the thickness of the bottom should have escaped the notice of an experienced pilot. Customs had also argued that on his suitcase being checked, he removed his zipper bag which was inside the suitcase and the tag on the suitcase and started tying it to the zipper bag. Dastur pleaded that Pastakia made a voluntary confession on July 2, 1998, before a metropolitan magistrate in which he had said that Dastur knew nothing of the bag's contents. He followed this up with another affidavit, on July 8, 1998 stating the samethings. Customs counsel, D T Palekar, argued that the affidavit which was being cited now, and the two letters written by Pastakia - one to the commissioner of Customs and another to the special judge of the NDPs court from jail - were the same in content as far as Dastur's involvement was concerned. The voluntary confession made by Pastakia in July 98 before the magistrate, was irrelevant, since it had been made after Justice Palkar rejected bail on May 6, 1998.Justice Bhairavia, however, rejected these contentions, and granted Dastur bail on July 29.
