A Delhi court has flagged a “serious lapse” by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) after its Chandigarh unit failed to respond to requests from the agency’s Delhi unit for evidence in a drug trafficking case involving the attempted export of 560 grams of charas to the United Kingdom [NCB Vs Nympha].
Special Judge Sandeep Yadav of the Rouse Avenue Courts made the observation while convicting Filipino citizen Nympha De Jesus under Section 23(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The court found that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that De Jesus had attempted to export the charas by concealing it inside a parcel.
The Court expressed surprise that officers of the same central agency had failed to cooperate with each other during the investigation.
“It is surprising that one official of NCB at Chandigarh is not co-operating with other official of NCB at Delhi in connection with investigation of present case,” the judge observed.
The case arose from secret information received by the NCB in November 2015 about narcotics concealed in a parcel at a DHL facility in Delhi.
When the parcel was opened, officials found a black book with dark brown material concealed in its front and back portions. The substance, weighing around 560 grams, tested positive for charas. The parcel was destined for Brighton in the United Kingdom.
The prosecution relied, among other things, on the accused's passport details attached to the parcel and the testimony of a postal assistant at the Connaught Place Post Office, who identified De Jesus as the woman who had booked it.
The Court convicted De Jesus and directed that she be heard separately on the question of sentence.
On the lapses on the part of the NCB, the Court noted that the Delhi Zonal Unit had written to the Chandigarh Zonal Unit on December 10, 2015 and November 23, 2016 seeking verification of an address and the Customer Application Form (CAF) and Call Detail Records (CDR) of a mobile number allegedly linked to the accused. However, no response was received.
The Court said both units were under the administrative control of the NCB Director General and the issue could have been escalated to senior officials when the Chandigarh unit failed to respond.
It added that no “sincere and positive efforts” were made at the higher levels of the NCB to obtain the records.
As a result, a “very vital piece of evidence” that could have connected the accused with the parcel was not placed before the court, the judge said. However, the Court found that there was sufficient other evidence to establish her guilt.
“This serious lapse on the part of officials involved in the investigation of this case deserves the attention of Director, NCB,” the Court said.
Senior Public Prosecutor Shantanu Jugtawat and Special Public Prosecutor Manish Gupta appeared for the NCB
Advocate Gaurav Chandok represented the accused.
[Read Judgment]