Mumbai, Jun 12 The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to two employees of NESCO Ltd, arrested in connection with a case of alleged drug overdose at a music concert in suburban Goregaon in April, holding there is no material to show they conspired with or abetted drug peddlers.
A single bench of Justice Shyam Chandak directed them to submit a surety of Rs 1 lakh each, appear before the police station concerned once a month and not tamper with the evidence.
The police pleaded with the HC to stay its bail order for four weeks so that they can appeal in the Supreme Court. Justice Chandak, however, refused to do so.
The court, in its order, said though the two accused were present at the event it cannot be held that they were directly or indirectly connected with the co-accused in the case, the alleged drug peddlers.
"There is no sufficient material to prima facie conclude that the applicants (the two accused) have conspired with and abetted the alleged drug peddlers to allow them free entry at the event for the purpose of selling the contraband," the HC noted.
It further held that there was no recovery of any narcotics from the duo and the investigation against them was complete and hence their detention in jail was not required.
The trial in the case would take considerable time and one of the accused is a cancer survivor who requires continuous medical treatment, according to the order.
Sunny Jain (31), a senior manager for live events, and Balkrishna Balram Kurup (46), vice-president (live events and IP) of NESCO Exhibitions, were arrested on April 13 after the death of two management students who had gone to the concert at the NESCO Exhibition Centre in Goregaon.
The deceased - Shreya Rai and Bismat Bhasin - had allegedly overdosed on drugs at the concert.
Investigations suggested that the victims had allegedly consumed MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), a prohibited substance.
The duo, in their bail plea, said neither they nor NESCO had any role in the security arrangements and can't be held responsible for the incident.
They further claimed that the security arrangements were handed over to a third party. There is no material linking them to procurement, distribution, or consumption of contraband substances, and no recovery has been made at their instance, they argued.
Consumption or possession of illegal substances was strictly prohibited at the venue, as per entry terms printed on tickets and displayed at the site, the plea stated.
