HARI SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants are aggrieved by the conviction and sentence recorded against them by the Special Judge, Patiala on 24.9.2003 for having been found to be in possession of 16 bags of poppy husk each containing 30 Kgs.

(2.) ACCORDING to the prosecution case, on 9.7.1999, SI Krishan Kumar along with other police officials and one PW Gurjail Singh was going from village Kadrabad to Gajewas and when they were three kilometers short of the village, they had noticed three men and two women sitting on the bags lying between the sugarcane fields and a heap of earth. On seeing the police party, these persons tried to slip away. Sub Inspector Krishan Kumar stopped the vehicle and apprehended Puran Singh, Hari Singh, Jaswinder Kaur and Charanjit Kaur while 5th accused who was identified as Amrik Singh by Gurjail Singh slipped away. The Sub Inspector sent a wireless massage to the Police Station and called S.P.Os. Rajwinder Kaur and Surinder Kaur to the spot and in their presence apprised the apprehended persons that police want to search the bags on which they had been sitting and they could ask for search being conducted in the presence of a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. In response to this, the persons opted for being searched by a Gazetted Officer. Their statements were recorded and through wireless, S.I. Krishan Kumar requested DSP, Samana Shri Paramvir Gill to reach at the spot and in his presence the bags were searched and found to contain poppy husk. The samples were taken and grounds of arrest served upon the appellants and eventually after receipt of adverse report from the Chemical Examiner a challan was presented against them.

(3.) AFTER conclusion of the evidence, the incriminating circumstances appearing in the prosecution case were put to the accused, who denied the allegations and asserted that they were innocent and have been falsely implicated in the case by the police due to enmity. Puran Singh asserted that Inspector Paramjit Singh was posted as SHO, Police Station, Dirba, District Sangrur and ASI Jarnail Singh are inimical towards him. The police officials had picked up sons Amrik Singh, Baghel Singh and his nephew Paramjit Singh on 16.4.1987. Aggrieved by this, Puran Singh had filed a writ of Habeas Corpus and when this petition came up for hearing, Mr. M.L. Bharara, Superintendent of High Court, who was appointed as Warrant Officer had found three detenus present in the Police Station. Puran Singh had also been brought into Police Station by ASI Jarnail Singh and when the Warrant Officer inquired about him, the police officials replied that he also is not wanted in this case. On this report of the Warrant Officer, in which he mentioned that police officials had given him a thousand rupees as bribe for making a false report, action under the Contempt of Courts Act had been initiated against two officials and Inspector Paramjit Singh had been fined with Rs. 1000/- and in default of payment of fine he was sentenced to undergo SI for a period of two months. Again, Gursewak Singh, who was DSP Railways has picked up his son and brother-in-law. His brother-in-law was killed and in that case his son had appeared as a witness against the police officials and a writ had also filed against them in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Due to this, Police Department is inimical towards him and his family and had implicated in the case. The accused had brought on record certified copy of the judgment passed by Shri G.S. Dhiman, Additional Sessions Judge, Sangrur on 24.5.2003 and photocopy of the Criminal Petition No. 13 of 1987 marked D2 and closed the evidence.