Delhi court grants anticipatory bail to woman in heroin supply case due to lack of evidence

A Delhi court has granted anticipatory bail to a woman accused of supplying heroin, saying that apart from the disclosure statement of a co-accused, there was no incriminating evidence linking her to the alleged drug trade.

Additional Sessions Judge Sameer Bajpai granted relief to Ibrana in a case registered at the Vivek Vihar police station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

“As such, except the disclosure statement of the co-accused Azruddin, there is no incriminating evidence against the present applicant. To the mind of the Court, custodial interrogation of the applicant is not at all required and as such, the applicant deserves the desired relief,” the court said in the order dated August 25.

According to the prosecution, acting on secret information about the supply of illegal smack on July 16, a police team apprehended Azruddin, a co-accused in the case, near the Leela Hotel in Vivek Vihar. During the search, 97.63 grams of heroin was allegedly recovered from him.

The prosecution claimed that Azruddin disclosed during the interrogation that Ibrana used to provide him heroin for further sale.

Opposing Ibrana’s anticipatory bail plea, the prosecution said there were phone calls and UPI transactions between her and Azruddin. It also argued that her custodial interrogation was necessary to trace the source from which she allegedly procured the contraband.

The court, however, found the evidence relied upon by the investigating officer insufficient to establish a connection between Ibrana and the alleged drug transaction.

It noted that while the call detail records showed calls between Ibrana and Azruddin, there was no recording of their conversations.

The investigating officer had also relied on bank transactions, but the court observed that the payments highlighted by police were small amounts of Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 998.

“These entries… in no stretch of imagination could be regarding the transaction of the contraband,” the court said, adding that the transactions appeared to be personal dealings rather than payments for the alleged drug supply.

The court further noted that there were no WhatsApp chats or other communications showing that the transactions between the accused and Azruddin were related to the recovered contraband.

Allowing the application, the court directed that in the event of her arrest, Ibrana be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with one surety of the same amount.