Foreigner drug trafficking accused jumping bail: SC makes it mandatory for them to deposit passports, produce two sureties
The top court issued these directions while dealing with an NDPS case where a foreign national, Chidiebere Kingsley Nawchara, jumped the bail
Taking serious note of frequent instances of foreign nationals accused of vanishing after securing bail on fake sureties, the Supreme Court on Monday made it mandatory for them to deposit their passports with the jurisdictional court and produce two sureties of like amount to secure bail.
“Concomitantly, the court may place a restriction upon the accused’s ability to travel outside the country without its prior permission,” a Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Augustine George Masih said.
Given the peculiarity of a foreign national being involved and contraband in question being commercial quantities, the Bench accepted the suggestion made by the DRI and the Union of India that in case an accused violates the bail conditions, the properties of the surety linked with such bail conditions should be immediately forfeited and necessary actions be taken against them.
“In each case, a lien/charge will be created over the property, both movable and immovable, and in the event of the accused jumping the bail and the surety bond being forfeited, it shall be open for the Court to forfeit the same,” the top court ordered.
The Bench, however, clarified that the directions and suggestions were confined only to accused foreign nationals involved in cases concerning commercial quantity of contraband under NDPS Act.
Describing sureties as the very people responsible for ensuring that the accused was available to the investigative/judicial authorities as and when required, the Bench said, “… if these people themselves turn out to be fake, false or non-existent, the process in place is rendered entirely ineffective, putting an irreparable loss to the security and shaking the confidence in the justice delivery system.”
On a suggestion for licensed bail bondsmen in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cases, the court said it is a matter that requires in-depth consideration and asked the executive to take a call on the issue.
“The accused so released on bail shall register within one week of release with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and inform, in writing to the investigating officer as also the concerned Court of having made such registration,” it ordered.
The top court issued these directions while dealing with an NDPS case where a foreign national, Chidiebere Kingsley Nawchara, jumped the bail.
Regarding sureties, the Bench said the court concerned may relax this condition by way of a written order recording reasons. “The process of verification of sureties shall, in all cases, be done within 3 days, and the verification report be placed before the Trial Court prior to the release of the accused. If this timeline is not followed, the reasons therefor be recorded and brought to the notice of the concerned Court,” it said.
“When sureties, purportedly verified, are later discovered to be fake, all officials concerned (Police, Court officials and Revenue officials) with the verification process shall face a departmental inquiry for dereliction of duty. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, and its counterparts in the States shall issue necessary guidelines for the departments concerned to proceed against erring officials,” it ordered.
The concerned Investigating Officer shall, through written communication, inform the Embassy of the country of origin of the accused of their involvement in the alleged crime, it directed.
The Bench directed the Ministry of Law and Justice along with the National Informatics Centre to create a centralised database wherein all particulars of each individual, both accused and as well as those who stand as a surety for foreign nationals accused in NDPS cases, shall be entered;
“All High Courts through their respective IT Committees shall take steps to implement the creation of a digital portal through which speedy verification and authentication of documents such as property and finance can be carried out,” it said, adding, “The High Court of Karnataka, as already observed supra, has taken steps in this regard. Perhaps they’re worth emulating.”
