(1.) Jaswant Singh son of Gauhra Singh, resident of Village Rohno Kalan, Police Station Khanna, District Ludhiana, was convicted by Shri J.P. Mehmi, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Khanna, under Section 9 of the Opium Act, 1878, on 26.4.1988 and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and required to pay a fine of Rs 500/-. An appeal was attempted and it was dismissed by Shri Man Mohan Singh Ahluwalia, Additional Sessions Judge, Ludhiana on 26.3.1990. Aggrieved against it, the present, revision has been attempted.
(2.) Briefly, the story of the prosecution is that on 12.10.1984 at about 1.15 P.M. Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar alongwith Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Singh and a couple of constables was returning to village Nasrali after patrolling in Govt. Jeep No. PUN 171 and when this police party was near link road which leads to Kishanpur, the accused now petitioner, on seeing the police party sat down on the right side of nearby canal minor. He was, however, apprehended on account of suspicion and as a consequence of his search, opium which was found to be 5 Kgs. and 550 grams was recovered from a plastic bag which this accused was carrying. Out of it, a sample of weighing 20 grams was separated and recovery memo (Exhibit PA) was prepared by Shri Ram Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector and constable Kewal Singh. Ruqa (Exhibit PB) was dispatched at 1.15 P.M and the present case was registered at Police Station Sadar Khanna. The site plan (Exhibit PC) was also prepared. A report of the Assistant Chemical Examiner (Exhibit PD) established that the contents of the article recovered were opium.
(3.) The first contention raised on behalf of the revisionist is that in the proceedings, PW-2, Shri Ram Kumar Assistant Sub-Inspector, has deposed that he had desired that Sarpanch of Naraingarh may be co-opted as a witness but since the aforesaid Sarpanch was not coming forward, it could not be possible. The mere fact that no proceedings were initiated against the aforesaid Sarpanch would not render the present recovery of considerable quantity of opium unbelievable.