STATE OF H.P. Vs. SITA RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present criminal appeal has come up for consideration after the leave to appeal has been granted under Section 378(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in reference to judgment dated 6th December, 1999, passed by learned Sessions Judge, Shimla, H.P., in Sessions Trial No. 19 -S/7 of 1999, acquitting the respondent/accused under Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short 'NDPS Act').

(2.) THE prosecution case, in brief, was that on 12.6.1999, ASI Madan Lal of C.I.A. Staff, Shimla, accompanied by HC Chet Ram and Constables Jagdish Chand, Parma Nand, Mahender Singh and Narainder Pal, went to village Kotidhar in connection with routine patrol duty, when they noticed two persons, one of whom was young and the other was middle aged, coming along a path. On seeing the police, both the persons became nervous. The middle aged man turned back and started running along the road leading to village Bekhalti while the young man escaped into the forest. The police gave a chase to the middle aged man and apprehended him. He was none else than the accused carrying a yellow coloured bag. Madan Lal (A.S.I.) told him that it was intended to search his person and that in case he so desired, search of his person could be made in the presence of some Gazetted Police Officer or a Magistrate and the respondent agreed that he was ready to be searched by the police officials present on the spot. In the meanwhile, a Maruti Van, bearing Registration No. HP -02 -0039, came from Rest House side which was stopped by the police and the driver of that taxi, namely, Sant Ram and a passenger, namely, Kishori Lal, travelling by that taxi, were associated as independent witnesses. In the presence of those witnesses, a yellow coloured bag, which the accused was carrying, was searched and Charas, in the form of fingers, was recovered and on weighment it was found to be 950 grams. Two samples each weighing 25 grams were separated. The samples and the rest of the Charas were put in three separate parcels and the parcels were sealed with seal impression 'H' and the case property i.e. the three sealed parcels containing the bulk Charas and the two samples was also sent to the Police Station through the same Constable along with the report. Case was formally registered on the basis of that report vide F.I.R. No. 91 of 1999. The case property was deposited with MHC and he presented the same to the S.H.O. and the latter stitched those parcels into bags of cloth and sealed those bags with his own seal Ext.'J2'. Inspector In -charge, C.I.A. staff, went to the spot and prepared the site plan. The case was investigated and the respondent/accused was charged for the aforesaid offence and the case was committed to the Sessions Court.

(3.) PW -7, Assistant Sub Inspector, Madan Lal, who conducted the search, PW -1 Kishori Lal, one of the independent witnesses of the search and seizure, PW -2 Constable parma Nand, who also witnessed the search and seizure and then carried the report for the formal registration of the case and the case property to the Police Station, PW -3 MHC Gurdyal Singh, with whom the case property was deposited by PW -2 Parma Nand, PW -4 Constable Ramesh Chand, who carried the sample to the Chemical Laboratory, PW -5 Sub Inspector Jagdish Chand, who registered the case and put the three parcels into three separate cloth covers and sealed those covers with his seal 'J2' and PW -6 Inspector Shyam Lal, who went to the spot after the registration of the case and arrested the respondent/accused besides preparing the site plan and recording the statements of the witnesses under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.