Man who thought he was carrying wheat flour not heroin acquitted by High Court

The Madras High Court has ordered the release of a person who was convicted by a trial court for attempting to smuggle 1.37 kg of heroin to Kuwait from Chennai after accepting his contention that he never knew it was contraband and he thought the sealed packet contained tamarind and wheat flour.

The trial court had convicted Anandam Gundluru from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh to ten years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for smuggling heroin. However, Gundluru pleaded before the High Court that he did not know the parcel handed over to him by one Venkateswara Rao, who is absconding since then, contained heroin.

Gundluru said he believed Rao's words that the package contained wheat flour and tamarind and took it along with him to the airport. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NBC) found heroin from Gundluru and arrested him.

Justice G Jayachandran said the NCB had failed to investigate the present case properly and set aside the conviction of Gundluru.

"In this case, the accused claims that he was not aware of the content in the parcel given by Venkateswara Rao. He pleads innocence that like few other villagers, Venkateswara Rao came and gave the parcel saying it contains tamarind and wheat flour. He without any hesitation identified his bag and allowed the officials to examine his bag," the judge observed in his order dated September 1.

The judge also said Gundluru was not aware of the "character of the powder" he was carrying till the officials disclosed to him that the brown colour powder was heroin.

"The complainant had failed to probe the case properly. To say the least, the perfunctory investigation was noticed at all stages. Having shown Venkateswara Rao, an absconding accused in the complaint, no effort has been taken to proceed against him further," the judge said.

The judge also observed that the trial Court itself was not convinced of the charge that Gundluru conspired with the absconding accused Rao to commit the crime of drug trafficking.

"Through his statement, it is probable that he had carried the parcel given by Venkateswara Rao, without knowing that it is a prohibited substance. By a preponderance of probability, the accused had established the absence of knowledge, contrarily Ex.P-39 and Ex.P-42 relied on the complainant does not prove that the accused was conscious of the presence of heroin in the parcel given to him by Venkateswara Rao," he wrote.

Setting aside the trial court order, the High Court also ordered that any fine amount paid by Gundluru should be refunded to him. "The prison authority shall release him from the prison if his presence in jail is not required in any other case," the order said.