Court rejects bail plea of accused in trafficking case

Panaji: A North Goa court has rejected the bail application of Hafiz Sayyed Bilal, 26, under the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1986 after it found that the accused was specifically named by the victims with charges of having trafficked three victims.
“In my view, the applicant is found red-handed transporting the victims who are known to him to deliver to the customers in his car and found engaged in human trafficking. In such circumstances, there is every possibility that the applicant would contact the victims if released on bail and may hamper the trial,” stated additional sessions judge, FTC, North Goa, Sharmila A Patil.
“…it is seen that although they named one Mr Gandhi, they also specifically mentioned the bail applicant and stated that it was the accused who made phone calls and procured them for prostitution which is sufficient at this stage prima facie to show the involvement of the accused in a serious offence of human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution,” the court maintained.
The court further stated that just because the applicant is in judicial custody is not a ground to conclude that he can be released on bail, although it is one of the criteria to be considered in a bail application. “The involvement of the accused as per the statements of the victim girls cannot be overlooked. Moreover, it is seen that the accused has been charged to have trafficked three victims for the prostitution activities,” the court held.
It highlighted the larger ramifications of human trafficking. “In such offences, wherein the human trafficking is involved, the society at large is affected. The chargesheet is filed in the present case and the matter will proceed for trial. In such circumstances, the evidence of the victims is yet to be recorded and hence, threatening or tampering with the victims cannot be ruled out,” the court stated.
The court added that the offence of human trafficking is a “serious offence” and “thus the gravity of the offence is required to be given due consideration”.
The applicant Bilal through his advocate A Gaonkar submitted that he is a taxi driver and does not know the victim as well as other co-accused and has been wrongly made an accused and that he is in judicial custody for more than three months for the offence for which he has no connection or any nexus.
Public prosecutor R Barreto submitted to the court that a raid was conducted in the evening hours of March 17, 2022 at Sangolda with the help of NGO ARZ wherein the three victim girls were rescued, and that the applicant was the pimp.