The special court said that, other than the prosecution of the defendants, the NCB provided no evidence that the men in two separate bail orders against the two defendants were human traffickers or were involved in drug trafficking. Arrested in connection with the Cordelia cruise. A court recently released on bail for Noida resident Vikrant Chokar and Nigerian national Okoro Uzeom. While Chhokar was apprehended on October 2 at the international cruise port with non-commercial amounts of three substances, Uzeoma was apprehended with 14 grammes of cocaine.
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NCB had relied on claims from co-accused Abdul Qadir to suggest that Uzeoma had delivered narcotics to him, according to special Judge V V Patil’s detailed decision. Qadir was apprehended with a large amount of narcotics. The court stated that there is no evidence linking the narcotics confiscated from him to Uzeoma. It stated that while the NCB says Uzeoma is a peddler, it has failed to produce any convincing evidence in support of that accusation, except from a statement. As a result, the court stated that Uzeoma could not have supplied the contraband.
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It agreed with Uzeoma’s lawyer Shalaka Hatode’s argument that the seizure was of non-commercial quantities of narcotics, and so Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act did not apply, and bail may be granted. The court ruled in Chhokar’s favour, saying that while the NCB had used Section 27A of the NDPS Act to accuse him of supporting illicit trade or harbouring criminals, there was no proof he was engaged. It further stated that conspiracy and abetment accusations against both of them might be addressed in detail during the trial. The court also took into account the principle of parity, as the other defendants in the case had been granted bail. Bail has been granted to 18 of the 20 people detained so far.
