IT News
Imphal, Jan 28:
Online petition with 1072 signatories demanding re-trial of Dec. 17, 2020 judgment order of the ND & PS Court Manipur in the special trial no. 100 of 2018 has been submitted to the Chief Minister of Manipur by the 3.5 Collective.
The 3.5 Collective is a civil society coalition in Manipur striving for the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 3, target 5, to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol.
Among the signatories many are from different part of the countries including individuals from Gurjarat, Karnataka, Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, etc. and North Eastern state. Many from outside the country like UK, Canada, Myanmar etc. also signed the petition submitted to the Chief Minister of Manipur
“Drug trafficker caught red handed should not be set free”, was the heading mention to the Chief Minister in the petition.
“We are deeply concerned that Mr. Lukhosei Zou, the former chairman of ADC Chandel who had been caught red-handed along with large quantity of drugs in his official quarter was acquitted by the NDPS court vide its judgement order dated 17 December 2020 in special trial case no. 100 of 2018. The conviction of two persons (Lukhosei’s driver and a 19 year old lad) out of the 13 accused in this case is also seem as mere act of scapegoating; rather than any genuine act of delivering justice”, the petition submitted mentioned.
It further added that the judgement not only set an unhealthy precedent; but the general public feels that it demonstrates the ailing state of our criminal justice system where any criminal with long pockets can buy his way out of the system. If this trend continues unchecked, the drug cartel operating in Manipur will be emboldened and the society will soon be dragged down by the menace of drug beyond redemption.
“Following this controversial judgement, the public prosecutor, who argued the case, has submitted six solid legal grounds of appeal vide memo no. NDPS/SPLPP/2020/04 dated 21 December 2020. It includes, inter alias, failure of the NDPS court to appreciate the documentary evidence submitted by the prosecution; failure of all the accused to prove their innocence that they were not in a culpable mental state of mind and conspired to do the illegal drug business together”, the petition mentioned and added that, “All of them ought to have been convicted”.
The petition urged the Government of Manipur to appeal against the said judgement/order to the High Court of Manipur seeking reinvestigation and re-trial without any further delay.
