Illegal steroid smuggling ring: HC directs FRRO to refrain from coercive action against Alpha Pharma CEO | Mumbai news
Mumbai: In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) not to take coercive action against Danish national Jacob Sporon-Fiedler, CEO of Alpha Pharma, an India-based pharmaceutical company.
Sporon-Fiedler, convicted in the United Kingdom in 2019 for operating an illegal steroid distribution network, had approached the court to contest the cancellation of his Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The vacation bench, comprising Justice Arif Doctor and Justice Somashekhar Sunderesan, heard Sporon-Fiedler’s plea, which sought relief against the MHA’s order. Sporon-Fiedler, 43, had been convicted alongside former bodybuilding champion Nathan Selcon, with both found guilty of importing steroids into the UK. Their operations involved an Indian pharmaceutical company supplying approximately four tonnes of anabolic steroids to Europe each month.
The UK conviction followed an extensive investigation that began after authorities seized 600 kg of anabolic steroids worth £65 million (around ₹74 crore) at London’s Heathrow Airport in 2014. In 2019, Sporon-Fiedler and Selcon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import steroids, leading to Sporon-Fiedler’s prison sentence of five years and four months.
Advocate Zal Andhyarujina, representing Sporon-Fiedler, argued that his client has held OCI status since 2017 and leads a company employing over 232 people in India. Additionally, Sporon-Fiedler is married to an Indian citizen and resides in India with his family, including a child who is also based here. Andhyarujina asserted that cancelling the OCI card without a proper hearing would cause “great prejudice” to Sporon-Fiedler, especially as he has filed a review petition against the MHA’s order.
DP Singh, representing the MHA, defended the ministry’s decision, highlighting Sporon-Fiedler’s conviction and subsequent imprisonment in the UK.
The court, however, extended protection to Sporon-Fiedler, emphasising the need for a fair hearing. “Considering that Sporon-Fiedler has been an OCI Cardholder since 2017, the conviction leading to the OCI cancellation dates back to 2018, and his sentence was commuted to 23 months, which he completed in 2021, it would be appropriate and in the interest of justice for the Ministry of Home Affairs to hear and dispose of the review petition,” the bench stated.
