SUKHLAL Vs. STATE OF M.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Being aggrieved by judgment dated 29.7.2005 passed by the Sessions Judge, Mandleshwar in ST No.04/2003 convicting the appellant Sukhlal under section 8/20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act" for brevity) and sentencing him to seven years rigorous imprisonment and Rs.50,000/ - as fine and in default of payment of fine, additional simple imprisonment for one year, the accused -appellant has filed this appeal under section 374 of the CrPC.

(2.) BRIEF facts of the prosecution in a nutshell are that Station House Officer Shri Mandleshwar (PW 10) on receipt of information from the informant on 27.12.2002 along with the task force searched the house of accused Sukhlal and found a white bag of fertilizer containing illegal contraband cannabis (ganja) weighing 4 kg. and 200 grams for which accused Sukhlal could not give any satisfactory explanation. The contraband was seized in front of the Panch witnesses, the accused -appellant arrested and offence registered and after completion of investigation, the matter was sent to the committal Court for trial. The accused -appellant abjured his guilt and took up the plea of maladroit implication and also stated that the cannabis was not actually recovered from his house but from the road in front of the house and in his defence, he examined one Gangaram (DW 1) as defence witness.

(3.) BESIDES , usual objections regarding procedural safeguards not having been followed, learned counsel for the appellant has mainly filed this appeal on the ground that the accused was not in the house at the time of recovery of contraband and it could not be said that the cannabis was recovered from the conscious possession of the accused and therefore, it was a clear case of the accused -appellant having been falsely implicated.