Jaipur: Raising concerns over the fairness of an NDPS investigation, the Rajasthan High Court has suspended the 10-year sentence of a Jaipur medical store owner convicted in a narcotics case and directed the director general of police (DGP) to conduct an independent inquiry into the role of a police constable who was shown to be present at two drug raids conducted almost simultaneously.Justice Anil Kumar Upman passed the order on July 2, with the copy uploaded on Friday, while allowing the suspension of sentence application filed by Kamal Ramchandani.Ramchandani was convicted by an NDPS court on June 25, 2025, and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a Rs 1 lakh fine.Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Shantnu Bansal argued that the conviction was vitiated by serious procedural lapses. He contended that mandatory provisions of Sections 42, 50 and 52A of the NDPS Act were violated as samples of the seized contraband were drawn at the spot and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory before the inventory was prepared before a magistrate, contrary to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Union of India vs Mohanlal (2016).Bansal also argued that the search was not conducted by an authorised officer under the NDPS Act and pointed to inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case. He submitted that Constable Girdhari Lal was shown to be present at another NDPS raid at a medical store about 8 km away on the same evening, making his presence at both locations “humanly impossible”. He further submitted that the petitioner had already spent more than four years and five months in custody and that there was no immediate likelihood of the appeal being heard.The state opposed the plea, arguing that a large quantity of narcotic drugs was recovered from the medical store without any purchase records and that, considering the gravity of the offence, the sentence should not be suspended.Finding substantial and arguable issues in the probe, the court suspended Ramchandani’s sentence and directed the DGP to complete an independent inquiry within three months and submit a report before the court.