Mangaluru ganja case: Advocate, forensic expert seek high court intervention

MANGALURU: A senior advocate, and a forensic expert on Tuesday asked the Karnataka high court to take cognisance of the ‘Mangaluru Ganja’ case that resulted in the arrest of several medical doctors and medical and dental students.
Advocate Manoraj Rajeeva, vice-president of the Mangalore Bar Association, and forensic expert Dr Mahabalesh Shetty, said that they would petition the high court seeking its intervention. The duo want the court to order an investigation either by a sitting high court judge, or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), or, at the very least, take stock of what the probe conducted thus far into the case has unearthed. They said that this would help uncover the truth, and ensure people felt that justice had been delivered.
Expressing his doubts over the adequacy of the available material evidence to ensure conviction of drug peddlers and addicts, Rajeeva said, “Why have the Dakshina Kannada MP, and MLAs not intervened, despite the image of Mangaluru as an education hub, having taken a beating? This may yet have economic repercussions. Why has the state home department not taken cognisance of the case that affects the lives of many. This case is also of great consequence directly to the government.”
The advocate also questioned the investigating agency’s decision to book the drug addicts, and their subsequent incarceration. “Why was Section 64A of the Narcotics, Drugs, and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act not invoked for the addicts? The Union ministry of social justice is clear about having to reform drug addicts. This recommendation should have been followed in this case as well,” said Rajeeva.
Dr Shetty, meanwhile, pointed out that the results of the screening tests were not conclusive, and stressed the need for the procedure to be performed by either the Central Forensic Science Laboratory or the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory within 24 hours of the arrest of the accused. “I wish to know if the chain of custody was maintained in the case?” he asked.
Mangaluru city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said it is subjudice to discuss lapse in investigation. “The advocate can express their apprehensions before the court, and we will submit all details through the public prosecutor,” he said.