SASANKAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The accused was prosecuted for the offence punishable under Section 8(1) and (2) of the Abkari Act. He was found guilty. He was therefore convicted and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of 1 lakh with a default clause of simple imprisonment for a further period of three months.

(2.) The incident which gave rise to this case occurred on 21.11.1999. PW1 was functioning as the Excise Guard of Adoor Excise Range. As per the prosecution case, one Sri. Abdul Azeez, the Preventive Officer along with his team of officers were on routine patrol duty. When they reached Kallarethu junction, a person was seen coming along the road carrying a plastic bag. Seeing the Excise team, he became panicky and tried to conceal himself. Feeling suspicious, he was intercepted and the plastic bag was seized. On examination, it contained 14 polythene covers which contained some liquid. One of them was opened and the liquid was identified as arrack by taste and smell. Two other covers were opened and the contents were transferred to a bottle of 180ml capacity. It was taken as sample. The sample was sealed and labelled. The label contained the signatures of the accused, witnesses and the Preventive Officer. Sri. Abdul Azeez, who is no more, had prepared Ext.P2 mahazar also. Thereafter, PW1 would say that they along with the accused and the contraband article returned to the office. PW2 was the Assistant Excise Inspector at the relevant time. He would say that on 21.11.1999, late Sri. Abdul Azeez had brought before him the accused and the seized contraband article and he, after examining them, received the articles and the accused. He prepared Ext.P3 occurrence report. Ext.P4 is the property list. PW4 took over investigation from 13.03.2000. He recorded statements of witnesses and obtained Ext.P7 Chemical Analysis Report. After completing investigation, he laid charge before court.

(3.) The court before which the final report was laid, took cognizance of the offence and finding the offence to be exclusively triable by a Court of Sessions, committed the case to Sessions Court, Pathanamthitta under Section 209 of Cr.P.C. after following the necessary procedures. The said court made over the case to Additional District Sessions Court (Adhoc), Fast Track-III, Pathanamthitta, for trial and disposal.