Kolkata: In police files, husband and wife Joydeb and Gouri Das they are the pawns of Kolkata’s drug trafficking network. Gouri, sentenced to 15 years in prison, was recently granted bail Calcutta High Court as the police failed to seize the 21.8 kg of ganja found with her as per legal norms.
Gouri moved the HC challenging her 15-year sentence after spending more than three years as an undertrial and nearly five months as a convict. A special court in Alipore sentenced her on April 8, 2024 to 15 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Joydeb was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined 2 million lei in the same case. Gouri was arrested a day after Joydeb on 28 November 2019 and booked under Sections 29, 20 (b) (II) (C) of Law on Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Joydeb was intercepted near New Dutta Nursery at Sealdah court and arrested on November 27, 2019. Police recovered 1.1 kg of charas from his possession. During the investigation, Joydeb said that huge quantities of drugs were stored in his Tangra residence and also revealed that Gouri was working for his drug business. Based on his statement, his house was searched and ganja weighing about 21.8 kg was recovered. TOI had earlier reported that Joydeb told locals that she was a social worker and ran an NGO. Police said his residence was difficult to access because he kept canine guards — a Rottweiler and a Dobermann.
Gouri’s lawyer Joy Chakraborty told the HC that the contraband samples were taken from the place of seizure and not before the magistrate, which is a violation of Section 52(A) of the NDPS Act. He said he is not a previous convict and has no criminal record. “If the execution of the judgment is not stayed, this petitioner, being a mother of two school-going children, would suffer an irreparable loss,” he said.
The HC division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Prasenjit Biswas on September 27, 2024 stayed the sentence imposed. “The provisions of NDPS are extremely strict. They contain the necessary safeguards against arbitrary search, seizure and arrest, otherwise they would violate the fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution of India and therefore the same requires strict adherence to law and procedure. “, the decision states.