Son-in-law of Nawab Malik moves Bombay High Court for quashing NDPS case

Sameer Khan, son-in-law of Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the drugs case against him. ( Sameer Khan v. Narcotics Control Bureau)

. Khan, along with two other accused, Rahila Furniturewala and Karan Sejnani, were arraigned in offences under Sections 8(c), 20(b)(C), 27A, 27, 28 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) alleged that Khan, Furniturewala and Sejnani had conspired to procure, sell, purchase and transport 194.6 kg of ganja and 6 CBD (cannabidiol) sprays, categorised as commercial quantity.

They claimed that Khan’s role in the case was for selling the contraband and financing illicit trafficking in the business.

. Khan has now approached the High Court through Advocate Advait Tamhankar seeking quashing of the case against him.

. He raised the following grounds for quashing under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure:

That he had been falsely framed in the case;

That there was no recovery of contraband from his person or through his instance;

That the Chemical Analyser’s report on the seizures stated that out of the 18 samples which were forwarded for analysis only one of them showed the presence of Ganja;

That according to NCB's own case and statements recorded and relied upon by NCB, the alleged contraband was at the instance of the co-accused and intended for personal consumption and Khan had no connection with the recovery;

That out of the 18 samples apparently 11 were found to be negative on the aspect of detection of cannabis;

That apart from the alleged 7.5 grams of Ganja there is no contraband recovered and therefore no case of conspiracy is made out against Khan;

That there is no averment in the statement nor is there any corroborative material to show that Khan had in any way dealt the co-accused or transacted any monetary transaction with the avid knowledge that the same would further a conspiracy within NDPS Act;

That he has suffered imprisonment for a period from January 2021 to September 2021 (which is more than 9 months) already before being granted bail.

. Khan stated in the plea that in the absence of any evidence to show any common intention or the alleged conspiracy or any recovery of drugs, no charge under section 29 or any other provision of the NDPS Act can be framed against him.

No fruitful purpose would be served by keeping the proceeding pending, Khan submitted praying for the proceedings to be quashed.

. Sejnani was arrested by NCB after contraband weighing 26 grams of substance purported to be marijuana was recovered from him and after interrogations and recording of statements, Khan came to be arrested in January 2021.

Khan’s earlier bail application came to be rejected on the ground that investigation was ongoing. However, once chargesheet was filed, Khan moved for fresh bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

. Special judge granted bail to Khan on October 14, 2021 observing that nothing except the statement of Khan and co-accused was relied upon by the prosecution to show recovery of contraband and his involvement in the connivance.

Son-in-law of Nawab Malik moves Bombay High Court for quashing NDPS case

Neha Joshi

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