By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Chandigarh: Ten years after he remained imprisoned in Amritsar jail on allegations of flying into India with drugs in a grape carton from Afghanistan, Noor Aga, a member of Ariana Afghan Airlines crew, has now got justice from the Supreme Court. It was a typical case of justice delayed but not denied.
It was 1st August 1997 when his plane landed at the Raja Sansi International Airport in Amritsar, says a report in the daily Tribune. He was arrested for allegedly carrying 1.4 kg of heroin. He was prosecuted under Sections 22 and 23 of the NDPS Act. He was convicted by the trial court at Amritsar on 7th June. His appeal against the conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 9th June 2006.
Appearing on behalf of Aga before the Supreme Court, Tanu Bedi countered the conviction on law points and exposed lacunae in the prosecution case. She asserted the prosecution had not produced physical evidence before the court, including the sample of the purported contraband, and even the carton.
She argued that independent witnesses had not been examined and there were discrepancies in the statements of official witnesses on search and seizure.
After going through the issues raised by Bedi, the apex court Bench held: “There are a large number of discrepancies in the treatment and disposal of the physical evidence. There are contradictions in the statements of official witnesses. The non-examination of independent witnesses and the nature of confession and the circumstances of the recording of such confession do not lead to the conclusion of the appellant’s guilt.”