PRIYASWAMY NATTAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment in Excise Sessions Case No.27 of 1992 on the file of the I-Additional District & Sessions Judge, Chittoor, dated 2-3-1993. Appellant is A.1 in the said case and he was convicted for the offence under Section 8 read with Section 22 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short 'the Act') and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and also to pay fine of Rs. 1,00,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for four months.

(2.) Before the Trial Court there were two accused viz., A.1 and A.2 and they were charged as under:

(3.) The case of the prosecution in brief is that A.1 is the father of A.2 and they are residents of Chavatapalli village, Chittoor district. On 10-4-1989 at about 1.00 p.m. when the Excise S.I. along with his staff searched the premises bearing Door No.7-6-26 of Damayanthi Street, Chittoor which was taken on rent by A.1, in the presence of the mediators as well as A. 1, he found a gunny bag with five cloth bags in it and each bag contained 10 Kgs. of white powder in polythene packets and the name of A.2 was written on the gunny bag and he also found on the slab of the wall in the eastern side room 8 polythene bags each containing 1 Kg. of white powder. Samples were taken from the five cloth bags as well as 8 polythene bags for analysis after arrest of A.1 and seizure of property under cover of panchanama and the analyst sent a report opining that the sample taken from the gunny bag is magnesium sulphate and the sample taken from the polythene bags is Diazepam which comes within the definition of psychotropic substance. As the accused have no licence to deal with the said material, they were charged as above.