Nigerian man languishes in jail for 18 months due to typo in lab report

The assistant director of a forensic lab had falsely categorised drugs found in the Nigerian national's possession to be contraband under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

A Nigerian national who was arrested in October 2020 spent more than one year behind bars due to a typographical error in a lab report. The assistant director of a forensic lab had falsely categorised drugs found in his possession to be contraband under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to the man and asked the Maharashtra Home Secretary to determine the compensation for his unreasonable incarceration as the material found on the Nigerian was never contraband.

Justice Bharti Dangre told the prosecution that if the Maharashtra government does not take a decision by August 12, then “this court will determine the quantum of compensation.”

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The court was hearing a bail plea filed by a 27-year-old Nigerian who was arrested by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra Police on October 23, 2020.

The team, while conducting a personal search recovered what was purported to be cocaine weighing around 116.19 grams and a pouch containing saffron coloured heart-shaped pills weighing around 40.73 grams and pink coloured pills purported to be Ecstasy tablets weighing about 4.41 grams. All this was in commercial quantities and the seized drugs were sent to a forensic science laboratory for Chemical Analyses (CA) testing.

When the CA report came, it was stated that the drugs found on the person were not Cocaine or Ecstasy but Lidocaine, Tapentadol and caffeine. However, the report by the Assistant Director of the Forensic Lab stated that Lidocaine and Tapentadol drugs “fall under the NDPS Act.”