Team Herald

PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has cancelled bail granted to two persons, charged with allegedly possessing commercial quantity of drugs in January 2018. 

Paul Willianm D’Souza and Digambar Mandrekar were caught red-handed in possession of 25 gms and 15 gms of MDMA, respectively during a raid by the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) team on January 3, 2018. Three days later they moved the court for bail and interim bail was granted on March 19, 2018 pending report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Hyderabad. 

The CFSL report was submitted to the ANC on April 11, 2018 after which the prosecution moved the Additional Sessions Court seeking cancellation of their bail. However, the court rejected the plea stating that the substance detected as MDMA did not tally with the chemical name of the substance indicated in the forensic report. The clarification was later sought. 

The High Court, on hearing the arguments from the defence and the prosecution, observed that the lower court had wrongly granted the bail to respondents being oblivious to the fact that the quantity of the prohibited substance found with the accused was commercial quantity as described in the forensic report and that bar under Section 37 of the NDPS Act clearly attracted. 

“It is borne out from the report of the scientific officers on examination of the samples forwarded for examination and that issuing the clarification that the substance with both the respondents was MDMA of the table to the Act and qualifying as commercial quantity. In such circumstances, therefore the respondents would not be entitled to the benefit of bail when the substance purportedly found with them was commercial quantity of the prohibited psychotropic substance MDMA,” read an extract of the order.

The court has ordered the two accused to surrender by second week of May.