A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Ahmedabad on Monday acquitted six Pakistani fishermen and an Indian fisherman of charges in connection with the alleged smuggling of 217.856kg of heroin off the Gujarat coast in 2019, holding that the prosecution failed to establish the recovery of the contraband beyond reasonable doubt.
Event Context
Special NIA judge Hemang Rajendra Rawal acquitted the six Pakistani fishermen – Safdar Ali, Alahi Daad Angiyara, Azim Khan, Abdul Aziz, Abdul Gafur and Mohammad Malah – giving them the benefit of doubt on charges under the earlier Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Indian fisherman Ramjhan Gani Palani was acquitted of charges under the NDPS Act and ordered to be released if he was not required in any other case.
It also found non-compliance with mandatory provisions of the NDPS Act governing the recording of information, preparation of inventory and sampling of seized narcotics. The court held that the prosecution had failed to prove that the six Pakistani fishermen had thrown the bags into the sea or that the seven bags produced before the court were the same bags allegedly discarded from Al-Madina.
The court further recorded that Fezane Kirmani had sailed from Okha for fishing and had caught around 90kg of fish.
Holding that the chain of circumstances against Palani remained incomplete, the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that he was the intended recipient of the alleged narcotics consignment.
The court ordered the confiscation of Al-Madina and directed that Fezane Kirmani be returned to Palani after due verification, if it had not already been released.
Team Analysis
The court also observed that when the ‘panchnama’ (documented evidence) was prepared, the seven bags were already lying inside the cabin of Coast Guard boat C-408, which had escorted Al-Madina to Jakhau. It noted that the witnesses had no personal knowledge of the alleged recovery and had relied solely on information provided by Coast Guard officials.
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The six Pakistani nationals were, however, convicted under the Foreigners Act and the Passport (Entry into India) Rules for entering India without valid passports, visas or other travel documents. Each was sentenced to eight years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 14A(b) of the Foreigners Act and five years each under Section 13(2) of the Act and the Passport Rules. The sentences will run concurrently, with the period spent in custody since May 24, 2019, to be set off against the sentence, according to the 151-page judgment.
The case dates back to May 21, 2019, when the Indian Coast Guard intercepted the Pakistani fishing boat Al-Madina near the International Maritime Boundary Line off Jakhau on the Gujarat coast. According to the prosecution, the six Pakistani crew members had transported 330 packets of narcotics packed in 11 polypropylene bags for delivery to an Indian recipient in Indian waters.
The prosecution alleged that the crew threw all 11 bags into the sea after spotting the Coast Guard vessel. It claimed that seven bags containing 194 packets were recovered, and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recorded the seized substance at 217.856kg. Preliminary tests conducted by the Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhuj identified the substance as brown heroin prohibited under the NDPS Act.
The Union home ministry transferred the investigation to the NIA in May 2020, citing the seriousness of the alleged offence and its international ramifications.
The court, however, expressed serious reservations about the prosecution’s version of the recovery. It noted that Coast Guard personnel neither photographed nor videographed the alleged recovery of the narcotics from the sea and also failed to explain the method or equipment used to retrieve the seven bags.
“The recovery of narcotic drugs itself is not found free from doubt…the Officers of ICG Ship Arinjay have neither videographed or photographed the recovery of narcotic drugs from sea and have also not stated as to by which mode/instrument/equipment the said seven PP bags were recovered from sea,” the court said.
The judgment further held that contradictions in the testimony of Coast Guard officers created “reasonable doubt as to whether any such narcotic drugs were overthrown by the six accused into the sea and as to whether such overthrown drugs were ever recovered” by Coast Guard personnel.
The prosecution had further alleged that Palani’s fishing boat, Fezane Kirmani, was the intended recipient of the consignment. According to the prosecution, the Coast Guard intercepted the boat about seven to eight nautical miles from the point where Al-Madina was stopped after making radio calls using the names ‘Mohammed’ and ‘Ramzan’.
The court found that the prosecution had failed to establish Palani’s alleged mobile phone links with the wanted accused. It also noted that none of the Pakistani accused knew him and there was no evidence to show that he had responded to any code word.
