Bail for 8 of 13 accused linked to drug kingpin Lalit Patil

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to eight of the 13 accused allegedly involved in the drug manufacturing racket linked to notorious racketeer Lalit Patil. The decision, made on Oct 14, was based on non-compliance with mandatory legal procedures.
The accused – Kiran Kale, Rishikesh Mishra, Afzal Sunsara, Manoj Palande, Parshuram Jogal, Ram Gurbani, Kuldeep Indalkar, and Rakesh Khaniwadekar, who are among the 13 including Patil – were in jail for nearly four years since their arrest in Oct 2020. Justice Gauri Godse, who presided over the case, highlighted the improper handling of the chemical analysis process, specifically the non-adherence to Section 52-A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
This section mandates that samples of psychotropic substances must be drawn and certified by a magistrate, which was not followed in this case. "The chemical analysis reports of samples collected without following the mandatory procedure under Section 52-A of the NDPS Act cannot be accepted as reliable material against the applicants," remarked Justice Godse.
The court further emphasised that the prosecution's reliance on sections empowering officers to search and seize without compliance with 52-A was insufficient to uphold the charges. The court said the applicants were in jail for almost four years since their arrest and the trial was unlikely to be completed within a reasonable time, It rejected special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray's plea for a stay on bail order tonenable the prosecution to move the supreme court.
Advocate Sana Raees Khan, representing one of the accused, argued that her client was arrested on Oct 15, 2020, though the chargesheet mentioned the arrest date as Oct 16. She further argued that the recovery of Rs 25 lakh from her client's residence on Oct 17, after his arrest, cannot be used as evidence to implicate him in the drug manufacturing activities. Khan also contended that non-compliance with Section 52-A of the NDPS Act undermined the prosecution's claims of seizure of commercial quantities, making conviction unlikely.
Additionally, Khan pointed out that the allegations were based on vague statements from workers at Sanyog Biotech, where the contraband was allegedly manufactured. These witnesses were not made co-accused, raising questions about the credibility of their testimony. Furthermore, Khan said the Call Detail Record (CDR) failed to show any link between her client and the other co-accused. Bail applications were filed on behalf of the accused by legal representatives, including advocates Sandeep Bali, Bhavesh Thakur, Kanishk Jayant, Khan, Ayaz Khan, Hrishikesh Mundargi, and Raviraj Parmane.
She added that while her client faced two other NDPS cases, he was already granted bail in both.