$~

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment reserved on: 25.03.2026 Judgment pronounced on: 27.03.2026 Judgment uploaded on: 28.03.2026 + BAIL APPLN. 3917/2025 KONAN JACQUES YAO .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Rohan Gupta and Mr.

Anup Kr. Gupta, Advocates.

versus DIRECTORATE OF REVENUE INTELLIGENCE .....Respondent Through: Mr. Satish Aggarwala, Sr.

Standing Counsel and Mr.

Gagan Vaswani, Advocate CORAM:

HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE SWARANA KANTA SHARMA

JUDGMENT

DR. SWARANA KANTA SHARMA, J

1. By way of the present application, the applicant is seeking grant of regular bail in case bearing no. DRI/DZU/34/ENQ/13/2023, registered at Police Station DRI, DZU, Delhi, for the commission of offence punishable under Sections 21/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 [hereafter ‘NDPS Act’].

2. Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution is that acting upon specific intelligence, a team of officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted three passengers, namely, Cynthia Adaobi Chukwuka (a passport holder of Nigeria), Donnatus Chukwuka (a passport holder of Nigeria), and the present applicant, Konan Jacques Yao (a passport holder of Ivory Coast), who had arrived at Terminal-3 of IGI Airport, New Delhi from Addis Ababa on 18.07.2023 at about 01:00 hrs. The said passengers were intercepted while attempting to cross the green channel, as the DRI officers had prior information that they were carrying narcotic substances, either concealed in their baggage or within their bodies. Notices under Section 50 of the NDPS Act were served upon them. Upon suspicion of internal concealment of narcotic substances, the accused persons were produced before the concerned Court on 18.07.2023 itself, and permission was sought for their medical examination. The learned Trial Court allowed the said request. Thereafter, all three accused persons were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where they were examined at the Trauma Centre and subsequently referred to the Department of Radiology. The X-ray examination conducted in the presence of independent witnesses and DRI officers revealed the presence of oval-shaped foreign objects inside the bodies of all three accused persons. They were thereafter admitted to the hospital for observation. During the course of their admission, accused Donnatus Chukwuka excreted multiple capsules containing a white/off-white substance. In total, 84 capsules were recovered from him. From the present applicant, Konan Jacques Yao, 07 such capsules were recovered. No capsules were physically recovered from Cynthia; however, as per the medical reports, multiple foreign objects were detected in her abdomen, which she allegedly disposed of by flushing them in the hospital toilet. One of the recovered capsules was opened and tested using the NDPS Field Testing Kit, which indicated the presence of cocaine/methaqualone. All recovered capsules were duly seized, sealed, and documented in accordance with law. It is further the case of the prosecution that during their stay at the hospital, the present applicant exhibited non- cooperative behaviour and resisted supervision by DRI officials. All proceedings were duly recorded in panchnamas prepared at the spot. Upon discharge from the hospital, the medical documents of all accused persons, including discharge summaries and radiological reports, corroborated the presence of foreign bodies in their systems. Statements of the accused persons were recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act. The prosecution alleges that all three accused persons were acting in concert and were part of a larger criminal conspiracy involving the smuggling of narcotic substances into India. It is stated that 1848 grams of cocaine was recovered from co-accused Donnatus Chukwuka and 154 grams from the present applicant, totalling 2002 grams of cocaine, which falls within the category of commercial quantity under the NDPS Act.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the applicant, Konan Jacq