ZAMKHAWGIN Vs. STATE OF MIZORAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Appeal is directed against the Judgment & Order dtd. 9/4/2019 passed by the learned Judge, Special Court, ND&PS Act, Aizawl, Mizoram in Crl.Trl.(Ex) No. 713 of 2017 arising out of Excise Case No. N-61 of 2017 under Sec. 20 (b)(ii) 'C' of the ND&PS Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the ND&PS Act), whereby the accused/appellant was convicted and sentenced to undergo 10 (ten) years Rigorous Imprisonment with a fine of Rs.500.00, in default 10 (ten) days Simple Imprisonment.

(2.) The prosecution story of the case is that on 17/3/2017 at around 3:00 PM, SI C. Lalbiaktluanga received information from a reliable source that an illicit ganja was to be transferred at Rangvamual. So, he immediately recorded his information report and then formed a team to investigate on the case. While on duty, he suspected two (2) persons doing illegal business at the verandah of the residence of Vanlalhriati without her knowledge. So, the officer recorded grounds of belief as per under Sec. 42 of ND&PS Actto conduct search. Before conducting search, they called two (2) volunteers as witnesses. On conducting search, they recovered three (3) nylon bags of dried leaves with flowering tops suspected to be Ganja. On interrogation, the two suspects confirm that it belongs to them. So, the Officer weights the suspected ganja which reads 20.150 Kgs in the presence of reliable civilian witnesses. He then packed and sealed the articles to be produced before the Magistrate. On recovering the illicit articles and from their confessions, the officer then prepared seizure and arrest memo against the accused (1) Zamkhawgin (45) S/o Zamkhanning (L) of Lamka, Manipur (2) Lalsangzuala (31) S/o Laldenlien of N.E. Tlangnuam, Mizoram as being the dual possessors of the illicit ganja.

(3.) Accordingly, seizure list was prepared and the seized articles were produced before the Magistrate, alongwith application for certification as per Sec. 52-A of the ND&PS Act. Inventory of the seized articles was also prepared and after further steps in the investigation such as chemical examination of the samples of the seized articles and recording the statement of the witnesses, the Investigating Officer (I.O) submitted the charge-sheet under Sec. 20 (b)(ii) 'C' of the ND&PS Actagainst the accused/appellant person.