HARI BAHADUR Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal is directed against the judgment and order dtd. 8/9/2022 passed by learned Special Judge-I, Kullu, District Kullu, H.P. (learned Trial Court) vide which the appellant (accused before learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short 'NDPS Act') and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years, pay a fine of ?1,00,000/- and, in default of payment of the fine, to undergo furthersimple imprisonment for six months. (Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience).

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the police presented a challan before the learned Trial Court for the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of the NDPS Act. It was asserted that ASI Nand Lal (PW13), HC Kesar Singh (PW-10) and Constable Murlidhar (PW-11) were on patrolling duty on 13/8/2017 in a private vehicle bearing registration No. HP34B-3533. They reached Burji Mour at about 12:45 a.m. when they saw the accused coming from Malana. The police became suspicious of the movement of the accused in the middle of the night at a lonely place; hence, ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) asked HC Kesar Singh (PW-10) to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was stopped. ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) made enquiries from the accused in the presence of official witnesses. The accused could not give any satisfactory reply regarding his movement in the middle of the night. The accused was carrying a bag on his shoulder. He appeared to be frightened. Hence, the police thought it proper to search the accused. The place was lonely and deserted. No independent witness was available. No person or vehicle was moving on the road. Hence, ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) associated HC Kesar Singh (PW-10) and LHC Murlidhar (PW-11) and enquired about the name and address of the accused. The accused revealed his name as Hari Bahadur. The bag had one main pocket, which was zipped. The zip was opened, and two packets, wrapped with Khaki Cello tape and one packet wrapped with transparent polythene, were found in it. ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) removed the Cello Tape and the transparent polythene. He found eight (8) packets each in two packets and six (6) packets in the third packet. In this manner,twenty-two (22) packets were recovered. All the packets were opened and checked, and black cubes were found in each of the packets. ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) smelled the cubes and found them to be cannabis. He weighed the cannabis and found its weight to be 2 kg. 96 grams. The cannabis was put in the bag alongwith the Khaki Cello Tape and transparent polythene. The bag was put in a cloth parcel, and the parcel was sealed with six impressions of seal 'V'. The NCB-I form (Ext.PW-6/D) was filled in triplicate. Seal impression 'V' was put on the NCB-I form. Sample seal impression (Ext.PW-10/A) was put on a separate piece of cloth, and the seal was handed over to HC Kesar Singh (PW-10) after the use. The parcel containing the NCB-I form and sample were sealed vide seizure memo (Ext.PW-10/B). ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) prepared a rukka(Ext.PW-7/A) and handed it over to LHC Murlidhar (PW-11) with a direction to carry it to the Police Station. F.I.R. (Ext. PW-7/B) was registered in the police station based on rukka. ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) conducted the investigation. He prepared the spot map (Ext.P-1/PW-13). He arrested the accused vide memo (Ext.P-2/PW-13). The personal search of the accused was conducted, and a memo (Ext. P-3/PW-13) was prepared. ASI Nand Lal (PW-13) produced the accused and the case property before Inspector Ashok Kumar (PW-7), who resealed the parcel with four seal impressions of seal 'M'. He obtained a sample seal impression (Ext.PW-7/D) on a separate piece of cloth. He filled columns No. 9 to 11 of the NCB-I form (Ext.PW-6/D) and put seal impression 'M' on the form. He issued the resealing certificate (Ext.PW-6/B) and handed over the case property, sample seal and documents to HC Param Chand (PW-6) on the same day. HC Param Chand made an entry in the Malkhana register (Ext.PW-6/A) and deposited the case property in the Malkahana. He handed over the case property, sample seal and documents to Constable Lot Ram (PW-3) with the direction to carry them to FSL Junga vide RC No. 243 of 2017 (Ext.PW-6/C). Lot Ram (PW-3) deposited all the articles in a safe condition at FSL Junga and handed over the receipt to HC Param Chand (PW-6) on his return. Special Report (Ext. PW-4/A) was prepared and handed over to ConstableInder Dev (PW-4) on 14/8/2017 with the direction to carry it to the Additional Superintendent of Police, Kullu, District Kullu, H.P. Constable Inder Dev (PW-4) handed over the Special Report to Additional S.P. N.S.Negi, on the same day. N.S. Negi made an endorsement on the Special Report and handed it over to his Reader, ASI Nirat Singh (PW-8). ASI Nirat Singh (PW-8) made the entry in the Special Report Register (Ext.PW-8/A) and retained the special report on record. The result of the analysis (Ext.P-4/PW-13) was issued, in which it was shown that the exhibit was an extract of cannabis and a sample of charas, which contained 48.14% w/w resin. The statements of the witnesses were recorded as per their version, and after the completion of the investigation, the challan was prepared and presented before the Court.

(3.) The learned Trial Court charged the accused with the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of the NDPS Act, to which the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.