Daijiworld Media Network - Colva

Colva, Nov 5: A South Goa court has granted bail to Ugandan national Justina Nagadya, who was arrested by customs officials in November 2023 for allegedly possessing 530 grams of heroin.

According to the prosecution, Nagadya's check-in baggage was scanned at the airport, when the scanning machine indicated the presence of organic material suspected to be a narcotic substance. On examination, customs officials allegedly recovered 530 grams of a substance suspected to be heroin.

Additional Sessions Judge Ram Subhrai Prabhu Dessai, while granting bail, observed that the gazetted officer involved in the proceedings under Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act had allegedly acted like a member of the raiding team as well as an investigating officer.

The court held that the prosecution was required to establish mandatory compliance with the safeguards provided under Section 50 of the NDPS Act before conducting the search, but had failed to demonstrate such compliance.

It further observed that the alleged non-compliance with the mandatory safeguards could be considered an independent ground for granting bail, despite the stringent bail provisions under the NDPS Act.