Drugs case: Court rejects deportation plea of 8 Pakistan nationals

A special court here has rejected the deportation plea of eight Pakistani nationals who were nabbed by the Indian Coast Guard off Gujarat coast with a boat allegedly carrying over 200 kg of heroin in 2015The accused who are facing trial under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act sought deportation from India to Karachi Pakistan on the ground that the court had no territorial jurisdiction to try the caseWhile the plea was rejected on Monday the detailed order was made available on Tuesday The accused had been apprehended with 232 kg of heroin worth Rs 696 crore by the Coast Guard and were later handed over to Yellowgate police station in south MumbaiThe petitioners lawyer had argued the accused were apprehended from international waters when they were found on a boat allegedly carrying heroinHe further submitted according to the testimony of a prosecution witness that the said boat was found 157 nautical miles away from Mitha Port in Gujarat which is closest Indian port from the said location Thus the point of interception of the boat was beyond the territorial limits of the jurisdiction of India he statedHe further said that when the accused were first produced before a court at Porbandar Gujarat in 2015 it had observed that Indian courts have no territorial jurisdiction to try the alleged offences committed by foreign nationals on a foreign vessel outside the territorial jurisdiction of IndiaHence if the trial is proceeded further it would vitiate the same on account of want of jurisdiction to this court he added However the prosecution strongly opposed the deportation plea stating that the territorial waters of India continued up to continental shelf exclusive economic zone and other as per the Maritime Act 1976As per a provision of the Act there is an Exclusive Economic Zone of India which is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial waters and limit of such zone is 200 nautical milesHe further argued that there is a resolution adopted by the United Nations Conference for adoption of a convention against illicit traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988Article 4 b iii of the said Resolution clearly mentions that the offence committed outside its territory with a view to the commission of any offence within its territory shall be covered he said Special judge V V Vidhwans after considering submissions of both the sides rejected the plea terming it as premature at this stageConsidering seriousness of the offences the quantity of the narcotics allegedly seized from the boat and that the aspect of national security is involved it will be proper to give the prosecution reasonable opportunity to prove the aspect of jurisdiction of court and its case on merits the court addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever