The court found that the prolonged incarceration of the petitioner and the failure to establish conscious possession warranted the grant of bail under the NDPS Act, balancing his right to liberty and the public interest.

JUDGMENT :

PRATEEK JALAN, J.

1. The petitioner seeks regular bail in connection with FNO.DZU/34/ENQ-02/2022 dated 07.03.2022 and 08.03.2022, for the offences punishable under Sections 21 (c), 23, and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 [“NDPS Act”].

A. PROSECUTION CASE

2. The case of the prosecution is as follows:

a. The petitioner herein is the proprietor of M/s. Seven Seas Global Shipping Company [“Seven Seas”], which was named as the consignee of a consignment of goods imported under Bill of Entry No. 7748800 dated 05.03.2022 [“the consignment”].

b. Upon an information from the National Customs Targeting Centre, the officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence [“DRI”] examined the consignment on 07.03.2022, at ICD, Tughlakabad. The examination was carried out in the presence of the petitioner herein and the representative of the Customs Broker, M/s. Cargo Navigation Services Private Limited. A panchnama was prepared on 07/08.03.2022.

c. The description of the goods was „APPLE SUN TOP JUICE‟ [904 cartons] and „POMEGRANATE SUN TOP JUICE‟ [944 cartons]. Each carton contained 12 bottles of 1 litre each.

d. On visual inspection, it was found that 2 cartons of apple juice [24 bottles] contained whitish sediments at the bottom, mixed with the juice.

e. Upon testing with the aid of a drug field testing kit, the contents of the said bottles were found positive for heroin.

f. The contents of some of the other cartons were also tested on a random basis, but the test results were inconclusive.

g. Representative samples were thereafter drawn from the juice bottles, in triplicate, and the 24 bottles in question were, on preliminary examination, found to contain heroin.

h. The consignment was thereafter seized under a Seizure Memo dated 08.03.2022.

i. The petitioner‟s statement was recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act on 08/09.03.2022. He stated that:

(i) The petitioner met one Arshad Seikh in Dubai in 2012, who introduced him to Asif Nawaz, CEO of Hafiz Muhamad Asif Trading LLC. The latter wanted to export apple and pomegranate juice to India, which was manufactured in Afghanistan and exported by Waqas Yama Ltd., Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The petitioner already had the requisite regulatory clearances for the import of apple and pomegranate juice. He, therefore, agreed to facilitate such import into India by using the importer-exporter code [“IEC”] of Seven Seas.

(ii) The consignment was shipped by one Asif Nawaz from Dubai under Invoice No. 1247 dated 13.10.2021. The invoice was raised in the name of Waqas Yama Ltd, and Seven Seas was named as the consignee therein.

(iii) Copies of the original invoice, Country of Origin Certificate, and Bill of Lading were provided to the petitioner by Asif Nawaz, and he engaged a customs broker, M/s Cargo Navigation Services Private Limited, for clearance of the consignment.

(iv) The petitioner received a sum of Rs. 1,11,100/- in his bank account from one Syed Saif on 03.03.2022, on the directions of Asif Nawaz, out of which he transferred a sum of Rs. 50,000/- to the broker‟s representative, Shiva Global Shipping. The petitioner was to be paid Rs. 40,000/- by Asif Nawaz for his services.

(v) He was instructed by Asif Nawaz to call one „Amit‟, Plot No.

31, Hajipur Road, Adarsh Nagar, City Dasuya, Punjab, at a mobile number provided by him, who would collect the consignment and hand over the remaining payment to the petitioner. The petitioner stated that he had never spoken to the manufacturer or supplie