First Bail In Drugs-on-Cruise Case : Two Guests In The Ship Get Bail

The Special NDPS Court Mumbai has granted bail to guests on the cruise ship, Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu. This is the first instance of bail granted in the cruise ship drug case. Manish Rajgaria was accused of possessing 2.4gms of ganja, and Sahu was accused of accepting that he consumed contraband twice on the ship. They were arrested after the cruise ship returned on October 4. The two were booked for consumption, possession and conspiracy under section 29. Full copy of the bail order is awaited.Accused of Consumption But No Blood Test During the bail hearing, Avin Sahu asserted that nothing was found on him and he was merely accused of smoking up twice while on the cruise. His Advocate Sana Raees Khan said that the NCB didn't even conduct a blood test to determine if he consumed the drug. Khan claimed that even though NCB found nothing from Aryan Khan, her case stood on a better footing. "There are no WhatsApp Chats, and he(Sahu) hasn't disclosed names of any suppliers" she had argued. "This is a clear case of malicious prosecution. The only thing against him is his statement under section 67 of the NDPS Act. Such a statement is not even admissible as evidence in view of Toofan Singh's judgement," she said. Like They Did in Rhea's Case…. Advocate Taraq Sayed for accused Manish Rajgaria argued that nothing was recovered from him. The 2.4 gms of charas allegedly shown in his possession was handed over by the cruise ship's security to NCB. Moreover, he claimed that his client couldn't be accused of a conspiracy as these were independent recoveries made. "If there is a nexus then reject the bail application. But there is no connection here,… Even in Rhea Chakraborty's case 33 people were arrested. None of them were connected to each other," Sayed said.NCB's Arguments:Special Public Prosecutor Advait Sethna opposed the application of Sahu and Rajgaria. Seth's had relied on Rajgaria's voluntary statement and the security guard's statement to specify the source of the contraband.Seth's had argued that the accused in the case seeking bail were arguing as if consumption was a mitigating factor for bail."Here it is as if consumption is a mitigating factor. That I should get immunity because I am a consumer. That's not how the law is. All offences are non-bailable according to Rhea Chakraborty's judgement. ""There is nothing to shy away from. Our case is of a common thread and conspiracy. That the accused are inextricably connected. If we are wrong, the courts are there," he said.During her rejoinder arguments, Advocate Khan said Sahu could not be incarcerated further under the garb of common thread especially when there was no progress in the investigation so far against him.Moreover, conspiracy cannot be assumed by unconnected facts and unconnected conduct without any reasonable link."How can Applicant's conduct be connected with the conduct of the co-accused when Applicant was apprehended subsequently on 4th October and separately?" She argued that if Sahu, who is having no criminal antecedents continues to be incarcerated in the company of hardened criminals at such a young age,he might become a hardened criminal and it will have a deleterious effect on his life and career.

First Bail In Drugs-on-Cruise Case : Two Guests In The Ship Get Bail

Sharmeen Hakim

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