Cautioning enforcement agencies against hasty detention/arrest of international travellers, the Supreme Court has quashed the arrest and subsequent criminal proceedings against an Italy-based NRI who was arrested at the IGI Airport here in January this year for allegedly carrying a deer horn in violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

“This court feels an imminent need to require the jurisdictional agencies concerned, handling affairs at the international airports, to sensitise their officers in the prevailing laws before taking the drastic step of detention and arrest of an international traveller. Needless to state that any such step should not be taken in haste and must be proceeded with an appropriate legal opinion and a pragmatic approach,” a Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath

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