Man, 65, gets 20 years in jail in NDPS case; court says drug menace spreading widely in society

MUMBAI: A special court in Mumbai on Monday convicted a 65-old-man and sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment in a 1989 contraband seizure case, noting "the menace of the addiction to narcotic drugs is spreading widely in society" and the accused deserves no leniency.

Highlighting that younger generation is vulnerable to the menace, the court also observed the accused has not shown any sign of remorse or repentance for his act of drug trafficking . The Directorate of Revenue intelligence (DRI) had registered a case relating to smuggling of narcotic substances against convicted accused Nitin Bhanushali and 10 others after recovery of 4,365 kgs of contraband (hashish) from 194 drums concealed under mango chutney. The value of the consignment was pegged at Rs 2.62 crore.

The case was originally filed before a magistrate's court, but committed in 1989 to a special court set up under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act). The special court had, however, acquitted three accused for want of corroborative evidence in October 2010. Once accused was declared as mentally unstable to face the trial, while the case against another accused was abated as he died during the pendency of court proceedings.

Five other accused are still absconding. The trial against Bhanushali was separated as he, too, was absconding initially. Special judge for cases under NDPS Act, S E Bangar, convicted and sentenced Bhanushali (65), holding that though co-accused have been acquitted previously, "this court is not in agreement with the observations recorded by the erstwhile learned predecessor in office".

Some witnesses were examined after the earlier judgment was pronounced, he said. The court noted that accused persons were found possessing huge quantities of the contraband substance which were commercial in nature and of huge value in the international market. The banned substance was sought to be exported by evading the customs and violating the provisions of law, it observed. The special judge ruled that it has been satisfactorily brought on record that Bhanushali worked along with the co-accused in a syndicate for illicit trafficking of contraband substance under the guise of exporting food articles.

While handing 20-year prison term to the accused, the judge noted there appears no reasonable ground for showing leniency considering "the menace of the addiction to the narcotic drugs is spreading widely in society and the younger generation is vulnerable to the same". The stringent punishment has been provided for indulgence in possession, manufacture, storage, transport, distribution, sale of such substances so as to deter the criminals indulging in such illicit trafficking, the court emphasised.

The accused cannot seek benefit on the ground of having undergone a sentence for similar crime in some other case or the long pendency of this case or by the status of his health, it observed. The court noted there "appears no remorse nor repentance with the accused" and he is still maintaining the stand of innocence, which are contrary to the facts on record.

The prosecution claimed that between 1986 and 1987, the accused conspired to procure, store, and export around 4,365 kg of hashish, estimated to be worth Rs. 2.6 crore, in India and approximately Rs 40 crore abroad.