RAMJHAN GANI PALANI Vs. NATIONAL INVESTIGATING AGENCY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the present petition seeking special leave to appeal against the order dtd. 19/8/2021, passed by the Gujarat High Court, dismissing the appeal preferred by him against the order dtd. 19/3/2021, passed by the Special Judge, National Investigating Agency, Ahmedabad, whereby his bail application was rejected in a case registered originally by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (For short the DRI) and subsequently taken over by the National Investigating Agency for offences under Ss. 120-B, 121-A and 122 of the IPC, Ss. 17, 18, 18-B, 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Ss. 2, 8, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 29 and 32 (B) (e) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (For short the NDPS Act) , relating to seizure of 236.622 Kgs. of Narcotics drug, Heroin near Jakhau Port, Gujarat on 21st and 22/5/2019 in a joint operation by the Indian Coast Guard and DRI.

(2.) The case of the prosecution is that on receiving intelligence input, the DRI had intercepted a Pakistani boat in the Indian territorial waters which was trying to escape on 21/5/2019. The Indian Coast Guard had chased and caught the Pakistani boat with one Captain and five crew members on board. The Captain had admitted to dumping some bags into the sea along with a satellite phone. 194 packets were retrieved from the seven bags containing a total quantity of 217.856 Kgs of narcotic substance, Heroin and were seized. Subsequently, 17 more packets of Heroin weighing 18.766 Kgs were also recovered from the coastal area near the location, thereby taking the total seized quantity of Heroin to 236.622 Kgs in 211 packets The investigation revealed that narcotics were being clandestinely brought into Gujarat from Pakistan through the sea route. During his interrogation, the Captain of the Pakistan Flag ship, Al Madina stated that delivery of the consignment of the narcotic drugs had to be made at a particular position on the sea for which a communication was to be sent on VHF to the Indian counterpart. Communication channel No. 8 was earmarked for this purpose on which he was to use the call sign Mohammed and the Indian counterpart was to respond with the sign Ramzan.

(3.) On receiving the aforesaid information, a radio operator was deputed by the Indian Coast Guard Officers to go on calling Mohammed-Ramzan-Ramzan by a hit and trial method on VHF Channel No.16, being an International Maritime channel that was meant for use of fishermen communication and for Ship-to-ship contact. In response to the said call, the petitioner herein on board an Indian fishing boat drifting in a nearby location close to where the Pakistan Flag Ship was intercepted, had replied, Ramzan-haan bolo, but on VHF Channel No.8. The prosecution version is that there was only one Indian fishing boat in the immediate vicinity that belonged to the petitioner herein with twelve crewmen on board. The said boat had remained on the high sea for 4-5 days and in all that period, they had managed to catch only five fish. Moreover, the Captain and the crew members of the Indian fishing boat appeared with neat and clean clothes, though the petitioner claimed to be fishing on the high sea for 4-5 days. Even the fishing net and the deck of the boat were found unsoiled, clearly, pointing a finger of suspicion towards the petitioner. It was contended that no attempt was made to prove that any substantial number of fish had been caught while on sea and that the boat was drifting at that location for five days only with the motive of collecting the consignment of the contraband. As a result, the petitioner was detained on a reasonable belief that he was the Indian recipient for the drug consignment brought into the Indian territory by the Pakistani Flag Ship.