Thane: The special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) court here has rejected the application of former Bollywood actress Mamta Kulkarni to defreeze her bank accounts and FDs as well as de-seal two flats in Andheri. The accounts were frozen and properties sealed in a Rs2,000-crore drugs case. Additional sessions judge Rajesh S Gupta, who is also a special NDPS judge, passed the order last week.

In her plea, Kulkarni through her lawyer submitted that she was an Indian citizen and had been framed in the case. She said she was the sole breadwinner of her family and she had to bear the expenses of one of her sisters who was suffering from a mental health issue. She further submitted that since her six bank accounts and three FDs were frozen, she was unable to meet the medical expenses. She sought that her flats in Andheri be de-sealed too as her sister needed to be kept in an orderly and neat set-up. The prosecutor pointed out that the accused had played an active role in the crime and she had been chargesheeted in the case. Besides, she had been on the run and was in Kenya ever since the case was registered on April 12, 2016.

The prosecution further submitted that all attempts to bring home the accused had been exhausted. Despite several notices issued by the court, the accused never turned up before the investigating agency or the court, hence her bank accounts were frozen and the flats owned by the accused sealed. The prosecution pointed out that if the application was allowed, the accused would never appear before the law agencies.

After hearing both sides, the judge, while rejecting the plea, said, “…accused has not turned up before the court nor appeared before investigating agency, hence, in the said facts and circumstances, I do not find any substance to de¬freeze the bank accounts and de-¬seal the flats as prayed. It is made clear observations made herein are for the limited purpose of deciding the present application, it shall not have effect on merits of the case.”

TOI was the first to report on the case. On April 14, 2016, the crime branch had seized over 20 tonnes of ephedrine and 2.5 tonnes of acetic anhydride from a pharmaceutical factory—Avon Life Sciences— in Solapur and other locations in Thane and Ahmedabad. Investigations led sleuths to the involvement of Kulkarni, her husband Vicky Goswami and a Kenyan-based drug mafia.