New Delhi, Aug 20 The Supreme Court on Thursday did not allow an NIA plea seeking the cancellation of the bail granted to accused Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar in the Mundra port drugs haul case, saying the agency could seek overturning of the order if he influences witnesses.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), told a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana that the offences alleged are grave and have the provision of life imprisonment as the maximum sentence.
The law officer said that the case pertained to the sensational recovery of around 3,000 kg of narcotics, which was allegedly procured from Iran and Afghanistan.
The agency got hold of the narcotics and "we do not know how many such consignments have come", she said.
The court expressed unwillingness to consider the plea for cancellation of bail.
The law officer then urged the bench to say that the April 10 Gujarat High Court order granting bail to Talwar be not treated as precedent enabling other co-accused to seek bail on similar grounds.
The bench said that the NIA can seek cancellation of Talwar's bail if he influences the witnesses.
It further said the other co-accused cannot seek bail on the grounds of parity in the case as several witnesses are yet to be examined by the special court. The bail applications, if any, of other accused have to be treated on merits, it said.
The high court had granted bail to Talwar after taking note of the fact that all of the 23 sensitive witnesses relevant with regard to Talwar's role in the case had been examined.
Before this, the high court had granted bail to two other accused -- Ishwar Singh, who turned approver for the NIA, and Durga Purna Govindaraju Vaishali, the only woman accused in this case.
Vaishali is a co-owner of Aashi Trading Company, which was allegedly behind the import of the contraband from Afghanistan through the Bandar Abbas port of Iran to Mundra. Heroin was mixed with talc powder.
The 2,988-kg heroin haul at the Mundra port was seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in September 2021.
The NIA has filed multiple chargesheets in this case against many persons, and Talwar was named as accused no. 24. He was behind bars since 2022, before he was granted bail by the high court.
He had sought bail on the grounds of the possible delay in the trial because the chargesheet ran into over 20,000 pages, and more than 500 persons were cited as witnesses.
The NIA said that after successfully importing heroin-laden semi-processed talc stones into India through the legal import channel, the narcotrafficker located in Afghanistan, with the help of Pakistan-based intelligence agency ISI and an Iranian middleman, imported the large consignment of 2,988.21 kg of heroin through the same modus operandi.
The consignment was sent from Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas and then imported into India in the name of Aashi Trading Company.
"The proceeds of this sale for all these consignments were to be used for funding terror activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba," it alleged.
Referring to the seriousness of the offence, transnational ramifications, involvement of intelligence agencies of countries having interests inimical to the country and the progress in investigation, the NIA said the court already dismissed the bail application of several co-accused in the case.
"Investigations have already revealed that the mastermind of the instant narco-terror is Pakistan's ISI and Pakistan-backed banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba.
"As such, considering the totality of the matter in the respectful submission of the petitioner, bail ought not to be granted in the instant matter so as to prevent miscarriage of justice and obfuscation of the trial of the instant international conspiracy of heinous nature," the NIA said.
The present case was pointed out to be the "largest intercepted consignment of narco-substance" being brought to India through illicit means. Bhati called Talwar a habitual offender who was previously booked in several cases of smuggling, raising apprehensions of witnesses being either influenced or killed if he was enlarged on bail.
The NIA referred to the case of a retired customs official, who acted as a facilitator at Kolkata port for the first consignment on November 9, 2020 (pertaining to Talwar), but when he wanted to join the investigation, he was found dead (suspected suicide) in a hotel at Jangpura here.
On September 12, 2021, some containers arrived at the Mundra port from Afghanistan via Iran with bags full of semi-processed talc stones.
Based on intelligence inputs, the DRI checked the containers on September 13, 2021, and some of the bags were found to contain heroin. Eventually, 2,988.21 kg of heroin worth Rs 21,000 crore was recovered.
Investigators later found that it was the sixth and last consignment which was intercepted.
Several people, including Afghan nationals, were arrested in connection with the case.
