The Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered $$10 million compensation for illegal detention of an engineer after security at Bhopal airport wrongly marked packages of dried mango powder and spices in his luggage as drugs, 16 years ago, in 2010.
The ordeal began in May 2010 when engineer Ajay Singh was preparing to board a plane bound for Delhi. An inspection of his luggage incorrectly indicated traces of heroin and methyldiethanolamine.
A case was registered at Gandhi Nagar police station in Bhopal and Singh was arrested, said Ajay Gupta, Singh’s lawyer. “The seized powders were sent to the regional forensic laboratory, which lacked the necessary equipment to conduct the necessary analysis. Ten days later, the samples were sent to the Central Forensic Laboratory in Hyderabad. On June 30, 2010, the Hyderabad laboratory confirmed that there were no banned substances,” Gupta said. He said Singh was released on bail on July 2, 2010, but after nearly two months in prison.
Justice Deepak Kot of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday described Singh’s arrest as a violation of his fundamental rights. He asked about the rationale for maintaining infrastructure without basic equipment. Justice Khote directed the state chief secretary to inspect all forensic science laboratories within a month to ensure proper facilities and staff.
Gupta said the identification of amchur and garam masala as drugs led to his client being arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and judicial custody for 57 days, despite his innocence.
The closure report submitted in the case stated that the explosive trace detection device suffered a technical malfunction and that Singh’s arrest was the result of incompetence and lack of experience. Singh was acquitted on 2 December 2010.
In 2011, Singh filed a petition seeking… $Rs 10 crore compensation, disciplinary action against officials involved, blacklisting of the company that supplied the faulty machine, and reforms to ensure proper detection systems and trained staff at airports.
