HARBANS SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS revision on behalf of the Harbans Singh is directed against his conviction under Section 9 of the Opium Act. The sentence awarded by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Nakodar, by his judgment dated August 20, 1979, was rigorous imprisonment for 1-1/2 years and the payment of fine Rs. 1000/-. The conviction and the sentence were maintained in appeal by the Sessions Judge, Jullundar, by judgment dated October 26, 1979.

(2.) WHEN the case previosly came up for hearing before this Court it was pointed out that for consideration of the link evidence the matter stood referred to a Division Bench. The case was ordered to be listed after the decision of the said case. It has since been held in Criminal Revisional No. 64 of 1982 (Bhagwan Das v. State of Punjab) decided on June 22, 1982, that report of the Chemical Examiner has to be read as a whole and if there is a mention therein that the sample up to the time it was examined by him had not been tempered with no further evidence was required to be produced for shwoing that none had tempered with sample. Thus the objection of learned counsel that none from the office of Chemical Examiner has been produced has no merit. 2A. It is alleged against the petitioner that 1500 gms of opium was recovered from his possession at village Talwandi Saghera on October, 12, 1975. The prosecution examined Assistant sub-Inspector Kalha Singh PW 1 and Constable Bir Singh PW 2 in support of its case.

(3.) THE second argument of the learned counsel that Kundan Singh to whom the seal after use had been entrusted was not produced at the trial. All that is required is that the seal should be handed over to an independent person and not that such a person should be produced in Court.