PARAMANANDA JENA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A conviction under Section 47 (a), Bihar and Orissa Excise Act, 1915 sentencing the Petitioner to R. I. for one year and imposing a fine of Rs. 1000/. having been confirmed in appeal, the Petitioner has moved this Court in revision.

(2.) THE prosecution case is that the officer -in -charge of Nilgiri P. S. on receipt of an information on, 9 -11 -1977 that some quantity of Liquor was being unauthorisedly transported from Nilgiri distillery, entered a Station Diary Entry and along with two other police officers proceeded towards the distillery where they reached at about 1 a. m. on 10 -11 -19,77 and found a car bearing No. W. B. C. 2861 loaded with 6 jars of country liquor of 30' litres capacity each with the Petitioner as the driver and the sole occupant of the car. The car and 180 litres of liquor were seized and the Petitioner was arrested, the jars brought to the P. S. and on the .next day the Excise S. I. was requested to examine the contents: who on examination opined it to be liquor. The Petitioner was released on bail and the cat was given in his zima but the jars were kept in the P. S. Malkhana with proper seals and thereafter Prosecution Report was submitted against him.

(3.) MR . Mukherjee appearing for the Petitioner has raised three contentions assailing the conviction of the Petitioner. According to him, even if the prosecution case is accepted in full, yet no offence is made out. Secondly, there is no evidence that the Petitioner was in conscious possession of the liquor and thirdly the fact of seizure is also doubtful.