MOHAMMAD HABIB Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the Judgment and order dated 10th January, 1991, passed by the Ld. Additional Sessions Judge, 4th Court at Alipore, 24 Parganas (South) in S.T. Case No. 2(11) 90, convicting the appellant u/S. 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985, hereinafter referred to as N.D.P.S. Act, for short, and sentencing him to R.I. for 10 years and also to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lakh only i.d. to further R. I. for 10 years.

(2.) Prosecution case, in brief is that on 28-5-88 at about 11.30 hrs. while Sub-Inspector Ratan Lal Mukherjee (P.W.4), attached to Garden Reach Police station (Port Division), Calcutta at the relevant time, who is also the first Investigating Officer of the case, was on his round duty in the Meher Manzil Lane area, he received secret information from source that the appellant was selling "Brown Sugar" clandestinely to the public, arrested the appellant, on the identification of the source from Meher Manzil Lane, Calcutta - 24, near premises No. G339/2 and on search of the person of the appellant, one bulb match-box was found in the right side pocket of his wearing shirt. On opening the match-box, ten small butter paper packets were found containing brown-sugar which weighed two gms. (nett) on weighment. The match-box containing the brown sugar packets was seized under a seizure-list (Ext. 4) in presence of witnesses P.W. 1 (declared hostile) and P.W.2, whose signatures were taken on the seizure list beside the signature of the appellant. On arrival at the police station Sec. X Case No. 170 dated 28-5-88 u/S. 21 of the N.D.P.S. Act was started against the appellant and P.W. 4 himself took up the investigation of the case and on his transfer one H. P. Ghosh was entrusted with the investigation of the case but Mr. Ghosh did not do any act of investigation and thereafter P.W. 5 took up the investigation, collected the report of the public analyst (Ext. 2) and submitted charge-sheet against the appellant u/S. 21 of the N.D.P.S. Act and ultimately the appellant was placed on trial and convicted and sentenced as above.

(3.) Prosecution examined five witnesses in support of the prosecution case. Among them P.W. 1 and P.W. 2 are the alleged witnesses of seizure of brown sugar from the appellant. P.W.3 is the Director (Drugs) Central Public Health and Drugs laboratory Calcutta under the Govt. of West Bengal, who subjected the seized material sent to him to chemical analysis and submitted his report. P.W. 4 and P.W. 5 are the two Investigating Officers amongst whom P.W. 4 performed the major part of the investigation and P.W. 5 only collected the report of the chemical analyst and submitted the charge-sheet.