New Delhi, Oct 3 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has denied bail to a woman who was arrested for allegedly carrying narcotics, saying an uneducated person may raise the claim of no knowledge but an educated one would know that carrying large quantities of the contraband is a crime which would entail harsh and irrevocable consequences in law.

The high court said it was clear that on February 22, 2018, the 25-year-old woman was found in the possession of 600 grams of Methamphetamine, which has been verified by conducting a chemical test of the sample of the seized material, and the evidence disclosed that she was part of a network which deals with supply and sale of narcotics.

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Justice Subramonium Prasad noted that the woman's disclosure statement has lead to the arrest of two Nigerians in whose possession narcotics was found and it has also been discovered by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) that these two accused were living illegally in India on fake passports.

“Material on record discloses that the petitioner (woman) is a part of a network which deals in supply/sale of narcotics. This is evident from the subsequent recoveries of narcotics from foreign nationals. The clean and tidy track record of the petitioner does not absolve her from being in possession of 600 grams of Methamphetamine,” the court said, adding that it was not inclined to grant her bail.

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It further said, “An uneducated person may claim no knowledge of the substance found in his/ her possession and may raise a defence of the substance being planted on them but being a highly educated person, there is greater presumption that carrying large quantities of narcotics is a crime and that it would entail consequences in law which could be harsh and irrevocable. The quantity recovered from the petitioner is commercial quantity.”

According to the prosecution, there was a secret tip of that the woman would be travelling by train on February 22, 2018, carrying the contraband in her baggage and during the search, 600 grams of Methamphetamine was recovered from her bag.

During interrogation, the woman said she was a native of Goa and shifted to Mumbai in 2017 for a job in the film industry. In Mumbai, she met a Nigerian person who introduced her to his friend who later became her boyfriend and told her that he was engaged in cloth business.

She said the man further introduced her to others who gave her a bag to be handed over to another person in Mumbai and that she was not aware of the contents of the bag.

On the basis of the woman's statement, the NCB officials arrested two other co-accused from whom 180 grams of cocaine was recovered.

The woman's counsel submitted that she was an educated person with no criminal record and has deep roots in the society and that she has retracted from her statement.

Central government standing counsel Ajay Digpaul and advocate Kamal R Digpaul, representing NCB, submitted that the woman was found in possession of 600 grams of Methamphetamine which is a commercial quantity and that this was recovered from her baggage where it was kept clandestinely in a bag marked as ‘Baby Carrier'.

He argued that the punishment prescribed under the provisions under which the woman has been charged entails a minimum rigorous imprisonment for ten years which could be extended till 20 years.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)