AMIRUL RAHAMAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) This appeal, preferred by the appellant-Amirul Rahaman, takes exception to the judgment dtd. 9/8/2019 passed in C.R.A. No. 384/2017, whereby the High Court of Calcutta has upheld the conviction of the appellant under Sec. 20(b)(ii)(c) read with Sec. 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The High Court upholds the order of sentence wherein the appellant has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for ten years, pay fine of Rs.1,00,000.00 and in default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment of six months.

(3.) One of the issues raised before us relates to the interpretation of Sec. 296 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the interpretation of the judgment of this Court in Thana Singh v. Central Bureau of Narcotics, (2013) 2 SCC 590. While we have some reservations on the findings recorded by the High Court in interpretating the judgment in Thana Singh (supra), we are not inclined to conclusively adjudicate on the said aspect, as we find that the appellant is entitled to acquittal for several reasons, which we would record in brief.