Delhi Court sends accused to judicial custody till January 9 in 500 Kg drug haul case

During the hearing, Akhand Pratap Singh, Special Public Prosecutor, appeared for the State through video conferencing. The accused was represented by Advocate Prabhav Ralli (through VC) and Advocate Samraat Saxena, who appeared physically before the court, while SI Shailesh Kumar, the Investigating Officer, was present in person.

The court was hearing an application filed by the investigating officer seeking judicial custody. The defence strongly opposed the plea, contending that the arrest was illegal. The prosecution, however, submitted that the legality of the arrest is already under challenge before the Delhi High Court.

Taking note of this, the court clarified that the issue is sub judice and therefore refrained from expressing any opinion on the legality of the arrest.

The court recorded that the grounds of arrest were supplied to the accused at the time of arrest on December 23, 2025, and ordered his judicial custody until January 9, 2026, directing that he be produced on that date.

Earlier, on December 23, 2025, the Tis Hazari Court granted the accused three days' police custody after he was repatriated from Dubai. The order was passed by Special Judge (NDPS) Virender Singh, who considered the gravity of the allegations and remanded the accused to police custody till December 26.

While granting police custody, the court took into account the alleged recovery of 563 kg of cocaine and mephedrone and 40 kg of hydroponic Thai ganja, the involvement of multiple accused persons, and the existence of substantial electronic evidence, stated to be about one terabyte.

The court also noted that Delhi Police had already filed the main charge-sheet against several co-accused and observed that the accused had been absconding, indicating non-cooperation with the investigation, which was registered on October 2, 2024.

The December 23 order permitted the accused to speak with a lawyer of his choice for at least 15 minutes every day during police custody. It directed the Investigating Officer to provide the arrest memo immediately.

On last date of hearing, Delhi Police had sought accused police custody, with SPP Akhand Pratap Singh arguing that custodial interrogation was necessary to identify and trace other members of the alleged drug cartel, dismantle the entire trafficking network operating in Delhi/NCR and other States, confront the accused with data recovered from seized mobile phones of co-accused, recover the accused's mobile phones and passport, and establish backward and forward linkages of the smuggling racket.

Opposing the application, Advocate Prabhav Ralli, along with Advocate Samraat Saxena and Advocate Deeya Mittal, submitted that the arrest itself was illegal. The defence argued that the accused had last been in India in September 2024 and thereafter remained abroad, and that non-bailable warrants were executed at an old address found locked, leaving the accused unaware of the proceedings.

In rebuttal, the prosecution submitted that the accused has already challenged his arrest, the issuance of non-bailable warrants, and his declaration as a proclaimed offender, and that the matter is reserved for orders before the Delhi High Court.

Following the completion of police custody on December 26, the court has ordered the accused to remain in judicial custody until January 9, 2026, as the investigation into the high-value narcotics case continues. (ANI)