New Delhi: A special court here has granted bail to an Afghan national and a Nigerian, who were in jail since their arrest in 2007 for allegedly trafficking heroin.
"The foreigners are in custody since April 10, 2007. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I order that Saleh Mohd (Afghan national) and Augustine (Nigerian) be released on bail on furnishing of bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain said.
The court directed the missions of Afghanistan and Nigeria here to file undertakings to the effect that they will not issue any travel documents to the accused during the
pendency of the trial.
It also asked the accused to report to a police station here once in a week and not to go out of Delhi without its prior permission.
The court directed issuance of the look out circular to ensure that the accused cannot flee from India.
The accused were arrested from Dwarka by the Special Cell of police which recovered heroin from their possession.
Seeking bail for the accused, defence counsel RS Jakhar alleged that they were framed in the case.
"Even the forensic report suggested that the recovered contraband was having 0.8 per cent purity which consequently brought down the actual quantity of the contraband to 7.3 and 8.4 grams which cannot be termed as commercial quantity", Jakhar said.
The court allowed the plea, saying the trial will take time to conclude and hence, the accused deserved to be released on bail.
PTI
