DATU RAM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the Stale of Rajasthan v. Daulat Ram 1980, C.C. Cases 83, the Supreme Court observed that the prosecution has to prove all the links starting from the seizure of the samples till the same reached the hands of the Public Analyst so that the court could conclude that the seals remained intact throughout. Unfortunately, this warning seems to have fallen on deaf ears at least as far as this case is concerned.

(2.) The facts fall into a short compass. Allegedly, on November 12, 1975 the petitioner was found in possession of 2.620 Kgs of charas out of which sample weighing 20 gms. was taken out and put in a parcel which was thereafter sealed with the seal of R.G. It is in the statement of the Moharir Malkhana Raghuvans Narain (Public Witness -2) that the said parcel was deposited with him by ASI Ram Gopal (who was the Investigating Officer in the case) and that so long as the parcel had remained in his custody it was not tampered with. He further states that on November 25, 1976 he had handed over that parcel to Constable Chandra Gopal. The prosecution has examined Constable Chandra Gopal (Public Witness -1) also who tells us that on November 25, 1975 after having obtained a parcel bearing the seal of RG, he had deposited the same with the C.F.S.L. and that he too had not tempered with the same. Then comes the report of the C.F.S.L. It needs to be reproduced. This is how its relevant portion goes:

(3.) What is more to be noticed is that the Investigating Officer has no where deposed that the parcels were deposited by him or that he had not tampered with the same.