- A businessman spent 57 days in jail after airport security equipment mistakenly identified common cooking spices as heroin at Bhopal airport.
- The man was arrested under India's Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act when explosive trace detection machines flagged garam masala and aamchur as containing heroin and a psychotropic substance.
- Samples were initially sent to a regional forensic laboratory, which could not test for the substance, and then to a central lab in Hyderabad, which eventually confirmed no contraband was present.
- The Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled the state vicariously liable for violating the man's fundamental right to liberty, citing inadequate forensic infrastructure as the reason for his prolonged detention.
- The court awarded the businessman 10 lakh rupees (£9,000) in compensation, to be paid within three months, and stated he could pursue further civil damages.
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