LAKHWANT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) NOTICE to A.G. Punjab.

(2.) MR . A.S. Grewal, AAG Punjab, accepts notice on behalf of the State. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

(3.) NO doubt any offence committed under the provisions of the NDPS Act is serious in nature for it eats up the very vitals of the society in the manner that a menace created by such anti-social element by providing the narcotic substances to our younger generation affects the very existence of the social fabric of the society and a day will come when the whole society will be totally aghast/marred and the existence of the people as a society/nation will be in danger. That being so even then the individual liberty of a man as enshrined in our Constitution and held to be paramount by the Apex Court of the country the High Court as a Court of appeal in the case pending disposal under the NDPS Act without mentioning the merits of the case has together the surrounding circumstances of each case for consideration with regard to suspension of sentence recorded against the accused where the poppy husk seized from such a person is of a small quantity upto 15 Kgs. and in such cases the convict might have spent atleast 3 or 4 years during the trial of the case or on conviction in jail and there is no likelihood that his appeal can be taken up for adjudication in near future and such people are entitled to bail and suspension of their sentences.