Man's bail plea rejected after FSL proved he possessed ganja

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has rejected the bail petition of an alleged drug smuggler who was piloting a truck laden with 277 kilograms of ganja from his car he was driving then. A forensic science laboratory (FSL) report confirmed that a huge quantity of 277 kilograms of ganja was seized from a truck that was following the accused driving ahead in a car.

The court, therefore, threw out his bail petition. The criminal petition for bail was filed by one Sayyad Mohammad from Kodagu district. He faces a case filed by the Economic and Narcotic Crime police, Managaluru under the Arms Act and the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He was arrested in 2021 and has been in jail for the last one year and seven months.

Mohammad’s bail plea was earlier rejected on June 7, 2022 but the High Court gave him the liberty to approach it again after the FSL report was filed. After the FSL report was filed he approached the HC again. Justice HP Sandesh gave his judgment on January 11 this year. Mohammad was arrested when he was travelling in a car.

The police found 60 kilograms of ganja in it. A lorry that was following the car was also searched and 217.740 kilograms of ganja was seized from it. His advocate claimed that he was not the owner of either the car or the lorry and did not know that ganja was being transported in them. The government advocate argued that the total quantity of ganja seized was 277.740 kilog ram which was a huge quantity. His bail plea was earlier rejected after considering the merits of the case.

“The FSL report is very clear that the seized articles are tested positive as ganja and hence, no grounds are made out in a successive bail petition to enlarge the petitioner on bail,” the court was told. The court was also informed that Mohammad had criminal antecedents and another case under the NDPS Act had been filed against him.

The HC rejected the claim of the accused that he was not in ‘conscious possession’ of the ganja. Quoting a Supreme Court judgement, it said, “The knowledge of possession of contraband has to be gleaned from the facts and circumstances of a case and the standard of conscious possession would be different in case of a public transport vehicle with several persons as opposed to a private vehicle with a few persons known to each other.”

Therefore the court concluded that, “The latter being the situation in the present case, the term ‘possession’ could mean physical possession with animus; custody over the prohibited substances with animus; exercise of dominion and control as a result of concealment; or personal knowledge as to the existence of the contraband and the intention based on such knowledge.” Applying this to the case, the court said that the ganja found in the car as well as in the lorry would be considered seized from the accused.

“This accused was travelling in the Skoda car and the same was followed by a lorry, wherein 217.740 kilograms of ganja was seized and the Court has to take note of the quantity of the contraband found in the vehicle and the contraband was concealed in the vehicle in which they were travelling,” the court said.

Also noting that the FSL report has positively identified the seized substance of ganja, the HC said, “When such being the case, I do not find any grounds to enlarge the petitioner on bail in a successive bail petition and there is no changed circumstance to enlarge the petitioner on bail in a successive bail petition.”