PANAJI
Fifteen years after his arrest in an alleged cocaine case, Nigerian national Ekoemeye Lucky has been acquitted by the Special NDPS Court, which cited major procedural lapses and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case.
Lucky was arrested by Anjuna police on January 27, 2011, after being intercepted based on prior intelligence. Police claimed to have seized 50 gms of suspected MDMA and 10 gms of suspected cocaine, valued at Rs 3 lakh.
However, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad, found the 50-gm substance to be ketamine and only the 10-gm parcel to be cocaine. As ketamine was notified as a psychotropic substance under the NDPS Act only on February 10, 2011, the prosecution proceeded only on the cocaine charge.
In its 107-page judgment, the court noted that neither of the two panch witnesses was examined during the trial, which lasted from 2011 to 2026. Though the prosecution claimed they were untraceable, there was no record of the Investigating Officer making efforts to secure their presence.
The court also questioned compliance with Lucky’s right to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate, discrepancies in the intelligence inputs and contradictions in the chain of custody.
It observed that the IO may have deliberately avoided securing the panch witnesses, possibly fearing they would not support the panchanama or that their signatures were not genuine.
Holding that the prosecution relied solely on uncorroborated police testimony and failed to prove the recovery beyond reasonable doubt, the court acquitted Lucky of all NDPS Act charges.
