M.N. NARAYANA DAS Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) False accusations can ruin life, and those who make them must be held accountable. The consequences of false implications can be devastating to the victims in such cases. Therefore the accused in such cases should be caught immediately for investigation, if necessary, and they should be produced before the court of law for trial expeditiously, if materials are there against them to face trial. The court concerned should take such cases out of turn, and if the accused is found guilty after trial, in addition to substantive sentences as prescribed which is to be imposed on the accused, the maximum compensation possible also should be ordered to be paid by the accused to victims in accordance with law. Such a clear message should go to the society to strengthen the faith in the system.

(2.) The prosecution case herein is that, based on the false information of the petitioner herein, a case happened to be registered against one Sheela Sunny alleging offences punishable under Ss. 8(c), 22(c) and 60(3) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, 'the NDPS Act'). She was in jail for about 72 days because of these false accusations.

(3.) The prosecution case in brief is like this:- On 27/2/2023, the Excise Inspector, K.Satheeshan attached to Iringalakkuda Excise Circle Office, received secret information regarding the Commission of the NDPS offences. Accordingly, the Officer with his party proceeded to the place mentioned in the secret information. When the Excise party reached the place of occurrence, they found a scooter bearing registration No. KL-64-F-1949 and one lady near the scooter. They saw that the lady was opening the seat and taking a bag. The Excise Party intercepted the lady and informed her about the identity of the Excise officers and their intention to search that lady and the scooter. On search of the scooter, a bag containing 0.160 grams of LSD stamps (12 in number) was seized. The lady near the scooter was Sheela Sunny and she was arrested and produced before the Jurisdictional Court. She was remanded to Judicial custody. Thereafter, the investigation was entrusted to the Excise Crime Branch. When the investigation progressed, as per the report of the Chemical Examiner dtd. 12/5/2023, it was reported that the so-called contraband article seized did not contain Lysergic acid diethylamide(LSD). In view of the above, the original accused namely Sheela Sunny was deleted from the party array of accused. Her case was quashed by this Court invoking the powers under Sec. 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C).