ABDUL AZIZ Vs. CENTRAL NARCOTICS BUREAU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this Common Judgment, Cr.A. No.764/2004 filed by co-accused Rajeev Verma shall also be disposed of. The record of the Trial Court is available in the file of Criminal Appeal No.725/2004 filed under Section 454 of Cr.P.C. against the order of confiscation passed by the Trial Court.

(2.) These Criminal Appeals have been filed under Section 374 of Cr.P.C. against the judgment and sentence dated 27-10-2004 passed by Special Judge (N.D.P.S. Act), Gwalior in Special Sessions Trial No. 2/2002 by which the appellant Abdul Aziz has been convicted under Section 8/29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and the appellant Rajeev Verma has been convicted under Sections 8/21, 8/29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,1985 and have been sentenced to undergo the rigorous imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of Rs. 1 lacs with default imprisonment. The Trial Court has acquitted co-accused Bhupendra Dubey, but no appeal has been filed challenging the acquittal of Bhupendra Dubey.

(3.) The necessary facts for the disposal of the present appeals in short are that on 6-9-2001, a team of Central Narcotics Bureau, Gwalior under the leadership of Keval Singh Sub-Inspector, went to A.B. Road, and was carrying out routine checking of vehicles in front of Bobby Restaurant. At about 5:30 in the morning, one bus of Vivek Travels came from Indore to Gwalior. The said bus was stopped. Usman and Ram Krishna Shrivastava were the Driver and the Conductor. After giving them the introduction, Keval Singh along with other team members entered inside the bus. One person who was sitting on seat no.28 appeared to be suspicious. He disclosed his name Hansraj, son of Bhavanlal, resident of village Gangati, P.S. Cheepavadod, Distt. Bara (Rajasthan). Hansraj was brought to Bobby Restaurant, where he was apprised of his right under Section 50 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Hansraj opted for his search by a Gazetted officer, therefore, Shri D. Banerjee, Superintendent, Central Narcotics Bureau was called. Hansraj was personally searched by Superintendent, Central Narcotics Bureau. On physical search, one polythene was found under his shirt. A light pink powder was found. Test was carried out on the spot with the help of kit and it was found that the powder was heroine. The contraband was weighed. Total weight of the contraband was 250 gms. Two samples of 5 gms each were prepared. Hansraj was arrested. He was brought to the office of Commissioner, Central Narcotics Bureau. The F.I.R. was registered. The seized contraband was kept in Malkhana. The samples were sent to Govt. Opium and Alcholide Factory, Neemach. On interrogation, he disclosed that he had brought the contraband to sell the same to co-accused Rajeev Verma, who is resident of Itawah. He also disclosed that on earlier occasion also, he had sold 500 gms of Heroine to Rajeev Verma. He also disclosed that if the premises of Rajeev Verma is searched, then more Heroine can be seized. Accordingly, under the leadership of D. Bhattacharya Inspector, a team was constituted. Rajeev Sharma, Lakhan Raje, Sub-Inspector, and other staff went to Itawah along with Hansraj. A team from Lucknow also reached there. At about 7 A.M., the investigation team went to the house of Rajeev Verma and informed that they have come to search his house and the factory. He was also apprised of the fact that he can give search either to the Executive Magistrate or Gazetted Officer also. Rajeev Verma, agreed to give the search to Mahavir Singh, Inspector. The house of Rajeev Verma was searched, however, nothing was found. Thereafter, they went to the factory premises, known as Khadi Gramodyog Sansthan Chandanpur Road, at about 10 A.M. After entering inside the factory premises, they found one Almirah of iron on the right side of the entrance gate. The key of the said Almirah was not made available by Rajeev Verma. With the consent of Rajeev Verma, the lock of the said Almirah was broke open and light brown coloured powder was found, which was disclosed by Rajeev Verma as Heroine. The powder was tested on the spot with the help of testing kit and it was found to be Heroine. The contraband was weighed and the total weight of the contraband was 1 kg. 450 gms. Two samples of 5 gms each were prepared. The contraband and the samples were sealed. Thereafter, one room which was situated on the left side of the entrance gate, was opened and certain chemicals, scale and weight, empty bottles, plastic tub etc. which were used for preparing Heroine were seized. The co-accused Rajeev Verma was arrested, and his statement was recorded. In his statement, Rajeev Verma, disclosed that the appellant Aziz used to bring certain material for the preparation of Heroine. The investigating team came back to Gwalior and as per Section 57 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, a report was sent. The seized samples were sent to Opium and Alchalide Factory, Neemuch. The appellant Rajeev Verma in his statement disclosed that he was preparing Heroine with the help of appellant Aziz. On 16-9- 2001, the house of Abdul Aziz was searched, however, nothing objectionable was found. Telephone bills were found and were seized. On 17-9-2011, the appellant Abdul Aziz appeared in the office of Commissioner, Central Narcotics Bureau on his jeep No. M.P. 16B 7675. The appellant Abdul Aziz made certain admissions and accordingly, he was also arrested and the jeep was seized. The call details of the appellant Abdul Aziz were checked and it was found that he had talked to the co-accused Bhupendra and it was found that Bhupendra Dubey is also involved in the offence. The Maruti Car of Bhupendra Dubey was seized. Co-accused Arjun Singh @ Lalla was also found involved in the offence. The house of Arjun Singh and Bhupendra were searched, but nothing objectionable was found. The notices were sent under Section 67 of N.D.P.S.Act but they did not appear. Therefore, a complaint was filed against all the accused persons, including the appellants Abdul Aziz and Rajeev Verma.