New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Bombay High Court to expeditiously take up actress Mamta Kulkarni’s petition for quashing of the FIR in an international drug conspiracy case.
The division bench of Justice Rohinton F. Nariman and Justice Navin Sinha heard the special leave Petition filed by Kulkarni against the Bombay High Court’s judgment of August 26, 2018.
In its judgment dated August 26, 2018, the Bombay High Court had refused quashing of the cases which were filed against the actress under various sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
The FIR was registered against two people on April 12, 2016 under Sections 6(c), 9(a), 25(a), 29 of the NDPS Act at Vartak Nagar Police Station, Thane for possession of 2 kg Ephedrine, a narcotic substance valued at Rs 80 lakh. Upon investigation, police claimed to have unearthed a massive international drug racket and named Kulkarni as one of the 17 accused in the four charge sheets filed by them.
Senior Advocate Siddartha Dave, on behalf of the petitioner, argued that frivolous allegations have been levelled against her on the basis of statements of two others accused in the case. According to the petitioner accused Kishor Rathore and Bharat Kathiya stated before the police that she took part in the meeting at Mombasa, Kenya in January 2016.
He further stated that the investigating agency appears to have roped in the name of the petitioner in the alleged crime since she is a well wisher of one of the co-accused Vicky Goswami and the petitioner and her family members had a genial relationship with him for several decades.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the United States was also investigating the illegal trafficking of ephedrine (powder for manufacturing Methamphetamine) which was taking place from Avon Life Sciences at Solapur. The petitioner’s name has not been mentioned anywhere in charge framed by the United States District Court in the case against Vicky Goswami and others, submitted by the petitioner’s counsel.
The petitioner sought direction to the High Court for expeditious disposal of her Petition for quashing of the FIR against her which was adjourned three times leading to its pendency for more than one and-a-half years.
The court granted the same and allowed the application for condonation of delay filed by the petitioner against the High Court’s judgment as there was a delay of 96 days.
Read the order here;
Kulkarni– India Legal Bureau