Calcutta High Court grants bail to drug lord's wife after 15 years in jail

Kolkata: Police records show husband-wife Joydeb and Gouri Das are the kingpins of Kolkata’s drug trafficking network. Gouri, sentenced to 15 years in prison, was recently released on bail by the state Calcutta High Court as the police failed to seize the 21.8 kg of ganja found from her as per legal norms.
Gouri moved the HC challenging her 15-year-old conviction after she spent more than three years as an undertrial and nearly five months as a convict. A special court in Alipore on April 8, 2024, sentenced her to 15 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Joydeb was sentenced to 20 years in jail and fined Rs 2 lakh in the same case. Gouri was arrested a day after Joydeb, on November 28, 2019, and was booked under Sections 29, 20(b)(II)(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Joydeb was intercepted near New Dutta Nursery at the Sealdah court and arrested on November 27, 2019. Police recovered 1.1kg of charas from his possession. During the investigation, Joydeb said that huge quantities of drugs were stored at his Tangra residence and also revealed that Gouri was working for his drug business. Based on his statement, his house was searched and ganja weighing about 21.8 kg was recovered. TOI earlier reported that Joydeb told locals that he was a social worker and ran an NGO. Police said his home was difficult to access because he had dog guards – a Rottweiler and a Doberman.
Gouri’s lawyer Joy Chakraborty told the HC that samples of the contraband were drawn at the place of seizure and not at the magistrate’s court in violation of Section 52(A) of the NDPS Act. He said she is not a prior convict and has no criminal history. “If the execution of the judgment is not stayed, the petitioner, a mother of two school-going children, would suffer irreparable harm,” he said.
The HC division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Prasenjit Bis had suspended the imposed sentence on September 27, 2024. “The provisions of the NDPS are extremely strict. It contains necessary safeguards against arbitrary searches, seizures and arrests otherwise it would violate the Fundamental Rights Chapter of the Constitution of India and therefore the same requires strict adherence to law and procedure. “, the verdict said.