Africa | America | Asia | Australasia | Europe | India | Middle East | UK | US

Technocrat held for online drug trafficking denied bail

Posted : Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:03:04 GMT
By : IANS
Category : India (World)
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
India World News | Home
New Delhi, Dec 4 - Denying bail to a technocrat arrested for facilitating online drug trafficking, the Supreme Court has said a telecommunication service provider would lose his legal immunity from prosecution if he misuses his services for such crimes.

A bench of Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice Harjit Singh Bedi gave this ruling Monday, while denying bail to Sanjay Kedia, the owner of two Kolkata-based IT firms, Xponse Technologies Ltd (XTL) and Xponse IT Services Private Limited.

Kedia was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in February for facilitating trafficking of banned contrabands phentermine and butalbital in the US through a host of websites launched by his two firms in the names of brotherspharmacy and LessRx.

'We find that the appellant (Kedia) and his associates were not innocent intermediaries or network service providers as defined under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act,' said the bench.

'Their business was only a facade and camouflage for more sinister activity of drug trafficking. In this situation, Section 79 will not grant immunity to an accused who has violated the provisions of the Act as this provision gives immunity from prosecution for an offence only under the Technology Act itself,' the bench said.

Kedia had approached the apex court for bail after his four appeals for bail had been turned down - two by a Kolkata trial court and another two by the Calcutta High Court.

Dismissing Kedia's bail plea, the court rejected senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi's argument that the NCB had no evidence to prove that his client used his network services for arranging the supply of banned psychotropic substances online or was involved in trading them.

Tulsi contended that his client was a mere intermediary providing telecommunication services and was protected against prosecution under Section 79.

The bench, however, agreed with Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh's argument that a person could be guilty without personally handling a psychotropic substance, and the evidence collected so far showed that Kedia was a facilitator between buyers and certain pharmacies either owned or controlled by him.

Singh argued that Section 79 could not 'by any stretch of imagination guarantee immunity from prosecution under the provisions of the Act' to a person like Kedia.


(c) Indo-Asian News Service

Share/Save/Bookmark

Article : Technocrat held for online drug trafficking denied bail
Print this article
Email this article

Stay Updated
News gadget on your Google homepage
Subscribe to a news feed in Google Reader


Related News

Two held in Italy in connection with Mumbai terror attacks
Brescia, Italy - Italian police have detained two Pakistanis in connection with the terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai last year, media reports said Saturday. An anti-terror squad apprehended the pair in the northern city of Brescia, foll...

High priority to ties with US, Singh says ahead of visit
New Delhi - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday left for a four-day visit to the US during which the two countries will look at consolidating their strategic cooperation spanning areas such as defence, trade and energy. In a statement prior...

12 men to die for killing Bangladesh's founder - Summary
Dhaka - Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the appeals of five men convicted in the assassination of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, upholding a previous death verdict against 12 former soldiers convicted for the murder. A f...

No role for third party in India-Pakistan ties, India says
New Delhi - India on Wednesday hit out against a US-China joint statement, ruling out any role for a third country in resolving its disputes with neighbouring Pakistan. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said New Delhi was committed t...

Pakistan receives Indian dossier on Mumbai attacks
Islamabad - India has provided Pakistan with more documents about the Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed more than 170 people almost a year ago, a Pakistani official said. India accuses Islamabad of not taking concrete steps against the Pakistan-ba...

Over 60 workers affected by gas leak at plant near Delhi
New Delhi - At least 61 employees from a plant belonging to the South Korea's Samsung Group were admitted to a hospital near New Delhi following a suspected gas leak on its premises, officials said Wednesday. The incident occurred at the multinationa...

Nuclear pact, trade dominate agenda for India-Canada talks
New Delhi - Cooperation on nuclear energy and boosting trade and investment top the agenda for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who began his India visit Monday, officials said. The Canadian leader who arrived in the western city of Mumbai late...

Have your Say
Name
Email
Subject
Your Comment

Enter Verification code
 
  

 

 

More India (World) News click here
Follow The Earth Times
Subscribe to RSS Follow Earth Times on TwitterNews by email
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 



 
Subscribe to free Earthtimes
News Alerts by Email Click here
For RSS Feeds Click here
or Create your own RSS

Add to Google Toolbar
Breaking News
Press Releases

 


The Earth Times
News Category

© 2009 www.earthtimes.org, The Earth Times, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Earth Times accept no responsibility or liability either directly or indirectly for views or opinions expressed in articles or comments.