The Madras High Court has set aside the conviction and 10-year sentence imposed by a trial court on a person based at Coimbatore who was allegedly purchasing psychotropic substances from local pharmacies in Coimbatore and supplying it to customers in various countries at the instance of an online pharmacy run by an Indian from New York.
Justice C.T. Selvam allowed a criminal appeal filed by D. Ramakrishnan of Chandra Importers and quashed the conviction as well as punishment imposed on him, under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985, by a Special Court for Essential Commodities Act cases in Coimbatore on April 25, 2014.
The judge interfered with the trial court’s judgment on the technical ground that the search in the present case had been carried out at 9 p.m. on January 25, 2008 though Section 43 of the NDPS Act permits such searches to be conducted only between sunrise and sunset. He pointed out that the provisions of the Act must be complied with scrupulously since it was a draconian law.
Stating that the lawmakers had been very conscious in wording the provisions of the Act, the judge pointed out that Section 41 permits judicial magistrates to issue search warrants even during night hours but the very next provision specifically states that though a warrant could be issued during night hours, the search should be conducted only between sunrise and sunset.
If not followed in letter and spirit, the provisions of the law would become dead letters, the judge said. He also cited a 1999 Supreme Court judgment wherein it was held that the safeguard provided provided under Section 42 of the Act must be followed scrupulously.
