New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh high court has awarded Rs 10 lakh in compensation to a businessman wrongly accused of possessing narcotics in 2010. The man had appealed against his nearly two-month long incarceration over incorrectly flagged spice packets during a security check at the Madhya Pradesh airport over two decades ago.Ajay Singh, a businessman who was travelling from Bhopal to Malaysia via Delhi in May 2010, was stopped at the Bhopal airport after an Explosive Trace Detector (ETD) machine at the security checkpoint triggered an alarm over packets of aamchur (dried mango) powder and garam masala.The machine indicated that the spice packets contained 1-4% heroin and 10% Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). Singh was immediately arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).After spending 57 days in jail, Singh was released after a chemical examination of the powders did not reveal any contraband substances.Justice Deepak Khot in his judgement said that the state was liable for the businessman’s wrongful incarceration due to faulty forensic tests and delays in examination of the spices.“Because of the lethargy and not having the standard laboratories in the State of M.P., the petitioner had to suffer incarceration for 57 days,” the court observed.Faulty forensicsAfter Singh’s arrest, the seized samples were first sent to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) in Bhopal. However, the laboratory returned the samples after ten days, saying that it lacked the equipment to test the material for MDEA. The samples were subsequently sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Hyderabad.The CSFL confirmed that the packets did not contain any narcotic substance, prompting the police to file a closure report. Singh was released on July 2, 2010.Singh then moved the high court seeking compensation for his illegal incarceration, mental agony and reputational harm caused by the incident, Bar and Bench reported.Singh argued that the ETD machines were unsuitable for Indian conditions and pointed out that subsequent tests with the same spices from different brands had triggered similar false alarms.The Court noted that the ETD machine’s readings were only “indicative” and could not be treated as conclusive proof of possession of narcotics.“It was incumbent upon the Authority to produce the petitioner with the material before the Investigating Agency immediately to further find out the truth,” the court said.While noting that the initial arrest was warranted under reasonable suspicion, the wrongful incarceration and delay in testing the samples led to suffering on the petitioner’s part for no fault of his own.“When cases like in hand are sent for the investigation/examination to RFSL, no opinion was given and finally when the samples were sent to CFSL it was found that it does not contain contraband, which took about 57 days of petitioner’s life suffered in jail for no fault on his part,” it observed.The high court ruled in Singh’s favour citing Supreme Court judgements where compensations have been awarded in public law jurisdiction for violation of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, the report said.The court has directed the Madhya Pradesh government to pay Rs 10 lakh to Singh within three months. Additionally, the court directed the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh to inspect all Regional Forensic Science Laboratories in the state within one month and ensure that they are equipped with the necessary infrastructure and personnel for examination of prohibited substances.