The Esplanade court in Mumbai on Sunday granted bail to an accused produced before it on charges of smuggling gold, citing “inadequate arrest”.
The Mumbai customs department had, earlier in the day, arrested the man, 24, claiming to have recovered three capsules of gold dust worth Rs 1.10 crore from him. Customs officials said he was earlier detained and interrogated, following which he confessed to smuggling.
“The accused said that someone had given him the gold in the transit passage and that he was supposed to hand over the gold to someone outside of the airport. As we found no one else outside, we made the arrest,” said an official.
“He was interrogated as we wanted to know if others were involved in the racket,” the official said. Later, the accused was brought Esplanade court.
Inadequate arrest
Officials said that his lawyer argued that the accused person’s family was not informed about his arrest.
“The grounds of arrest have not been informed, and hence there are serious lapses in the process of arrest,” the advocate told the court. The lawyer also requested that the accused not be named to save his reputation.
“The customs department’s failure to comply with the mandatory provisions of Sections 47 and 48 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, along with the constitutional safeguard under Article 22(1), makes the arrest of my client legally untenable. Every citizen has the fundamental right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and to legal representation,” lawyer said.
Officials said they had sought 14-day judicial custody of the accused; however, the court granted him bail, citing inadequate arrest, setting a bail of Rs 25,000.
