NARAYANAN S/O SANKARAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AGGRIEVED by the conviction of the appellant by the learned Additional Sessions Judge for an offence under Section 8 of the Abkari Act (in short, "the Act"), he has come up in this criminal appeal.

(2.) BRIEF facts necessary for the disposal of the case are as follows: On 13.09.1999 at about 1.30 p.m., while the Excise Inspector and his party were on patrol duty through a public road, they saw the accused/appellant walking along the road holding a paper packet. On seeing the Excise Officers, the accused tried to escape from the place. On the basis of suspicion, he was restrained and the packet held by him was examined. On examination, it was found that it contained a bottle having one litre capacity, containing a liquid, which on smelling and tasting found to be contraband arrack. The accused was therefore arrested for violating the provisions of the Act. 375 ml. of liquor was taken as sample for the purpose chemical examination. After preparing the seizure mahazar, the accused and the contraband were taken to the Excise Office and the case was registered. Without delay, the accused was produced before the Magistrate having jurisdiction with all material records.

(3.) SIX witnesses were examined on the side of the prosecution and five documents were marked at the time of trial. MO1 is the bottle allegedly held by the accused.