KISHAN LAL Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole appellant has preferred this appeal from jail being aggrieved by the order dated 7th May 1993 passed by the 4th AddI. Sessions Judge Ratlam in S.T.No. 128/92 whereby while holding him guilty for an offence under 5. 8/18 of the N.D.P.S. Act sentenced him to undergo R.I. for ten years and to pay a fine of Rs. one lack failing which to suffer R.I. for one year.

(2.) Assistance of Shri A.N. Pradhan has been rendered to this Court by the Legal Aid Board to defend the appellant.

(3.) Prosecution case in short is that on 5.4.1992 P.W. 1 Hawaldar Ashok Pal was functioning as a train guard wherein he got information that one person was sitting in the ladies compartment of Dehradoon train with an attache containing opium. When the said information was received by the Hawaldar at Chomela railway station the train started for Alot, he along with police personnel entered the ladies compartment at Alot railway station, the train left Alot railway station and moved towards Nagda railway station. The police personnel found the appellant sitting with an attache near the latrine of the ladies compartment. On an enquiry, the appellant stated that it contained only clothes. On further enquiry the appellant stated that it contained opium. Ultimately the police personnel along with the appellant get down at Nagda Railway Station and two panch witnesses Jaswant and Hemraj (P.W. 2 and P.W. 3) respectively were told about the statement made by the appellant about possession of the opium. The appellant and the witnesses thereafter produced before the S.I. police P.W. 4 Rajbeer Sharma who inquired about C.S.P. and Naib Tahsildar for the purpose of search but they were not found. P.W. 4 Rajbeer then asked for appellants consent for search, wherein he agreed for being searched by the sub-inspector himself. The appellant gave the key of the attache to P.W. 4 Rajbeer and when the attache was opened, besides clothes, a black material was found in a polythene bag which apparently looked like opium. The same was smelt and tasted by P.W. 4 Rajbeer and the witnesses and they found the same to be opium. Weight of the opium recovered from possession of the appellant was 5.500 kgs. and two samples of 30 gms. each were taken and scaled in presence of the panchas. A sample was sent for chemical examination and the report of analysis was that the same was opium.