Minor's drug trafficking conviction overturned
Even if it was not found in hand, the child was held responsible for the drugs found, the judgement said.
By
Aman Haleem
High Court on Wednesday overturned a magistrate court's verdict in a case related to trafficking of diamorphine by a minor for not having found drugs in his possession and declaring that the manner in which evidence was obtained was wrong.
In this case:
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The accused is serving a 16-year jail term after the N. Velidhoo Magistrate Court found him guilty
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Since this was a verdict of wrongful detention and obtaining evidence illegally, the High Court set aside the Velidhoo court's order and acquitted him
According to the complaint filed at Velidhoo court, the boy was arrested on charges of drug trafficking. During the search, nothing was found, but the police still arrested him.
During the police investigation after his arrest, the boy showed the locations where he claimed to have hidden the drugs. From the places shown by the minor:
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210 pieces of cellophane amounting to 2.5 grams of cannabis near the fence wall of an uninhabited house
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5 rubbers from another house amounting to 4.1 grams of diamorphine
The Velidhoo court cited the fact that the drug was found only after the child's arrest, but it could not be clarified at any stage of the trial how the child was aware of its presence in the premises. Therefore, even if it was not found in hand, the child was held responsible for the drugs found, the judgement said.
The boy’s advocates had moved the high court seeking quashing of the lower court's order on the ground that it was a case in which evidence was collected while the suspect was in custody after being detained illegally. Accepting the mistakes committed by the police, the PG office also requested the court to set aside the sentence.
Justice Hussain Majeed, who presided over the bench hearing the case in the High Court, said:
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When the boy was searched, nothing was seen on him and the boy was arrested without court orders
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According to the law, a person can be arrested from a place other than the crime scene only if there is a court order
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Since nothing was found in the case from the accused, there was no legal reason to arrest him
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The evidence obtained afterwards is not cannot decide the course of action in a criminal case.
The next two judges on the bench, Hussain Shahid and Mohammad Saleem, supported Majeed's opinion.
