HEMLAL CHANDRAKAR Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this CRLA, the convict has assailed the correctness of the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 28.01.2014 passed by the learned Special Judge, Nuapada in Special Act Case No.01 of 2013, whereby he has been convicted and sentenced to undergo R.I. for eleven years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,00,000 (Rupees one lakh only), in default, to suffer further R.I. for one year for commission of offence under Section 20(b)(ii)(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the N.D.P.S. Act for brevity.

(2.) Shorn off unnecessary details, the prosecution case in short is that on 13.02.2013 the Inspector-in-charge, Jonk Police Station (P.W.14) received a telephonic information from an unknown source that the accused was in possession of huge quantity of Ganja in his house at village Sareipali. He was going to dispose of the same. P.W. 14 to that effect making an entry in the station diary vide entry No.314 dated 13.02.2013 directed the Sub-Inspector (P.W.13) to proceed to the spot along with available staff to verify the information and workout the clue. Accordingly, P.W.13 along with staff proceeded to the spot by the Police Jeep. On the way, P.W.13 picked up two witnesses to assist her in the investigation. On arrival in the occurrence village, P.W.13 contacted the source who identified the accused and his house to her. To avoid of delay without any search warrant, P.W.13 along with her staff searched the house of the accused. The accused attempted to escape, but he was caught and when asked, he denied possessing of the Ganja. Search being conducted in his house, 13 numbers of polythene bags containing Ganja were recovered from the first room of the upstair of his house. P.W. 13 procured the weighman P.W.3 and his weighing machine through the Havildar P.W.6. She arranged the plastic sheet (Dari) through P.W.10, the Homeguard. She also procured the investigation kit, weighman and polythene sheet to the accused. She got the polythene sheet spread on the floor of the spot room. She opened the polythene bags and dumped the contents of those 13 bags on the polythene sheet and mixed all the Ganja homogeneously and took weighment of bulk Ganja through P.W.3 weighman. The bulk Ganja was found to be 260 kgs. On being asked, the accused failed to produce any license or authority for possession of Ganja.

(3.) The defence took the plea of denial and false implication. The appellant also examined two witnesses i.e. D.Ws. 1 and 2 to prove that the house from which the seized contraband Ganja recovered was inhabited by two of his brothers along with their family. In other words, the appellant took the plea that the Ganja was not recovered from his conscious and exclusive possession.