LATADEEN Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal is directed against the judgment dtd. 22/9/2020, passed by learned Special Judge-IV, Kangra at Dharamshala, District Kangra, H.P., vide which the appellant (accused before the learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short 'NDPS Act') and order dtd. 23/9/2020 vide which, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 11 years and pay a fine of 31,00,000/- and in default of payment of fine to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years for the commission of aforesaid offence. (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 against the accused before the learned Trial Court for the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of the NDPS Act. It was asserted that ASI-Desh Raj (PW15), HC-Ajay Kumar (PW1), HHC-Vimal Kumar (PW13), and HHC-Yashwant (PW10) were present at 32 miles in a private vehicle bearing registration no. HP-38B-4612 on 7/7/2016 at about 1:30 pm. ASI Des Raj received a secret information that the accused Latadeen used to sell charas in his home and a huge quantity of charas could be recovered by searching the house. The information was credible, and any delay in procuring the warrant would have destroyed the case property; hence, the information was reduced into writing (Ext. PW7/A) and was sent to Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Jawali through HHC-Yashwant Singh (PW10). The information was also sent to the Police Station for the registration of the FIR. Sudarshana Kumari (PW4) and Babu Ram (PW2) were associated as witnesses. Surjeet Singh (PW3) was associated as a Photographer. The search of the house of the accused was conducted in their presence. The process of the search was also videographed. One carton wrapped with blankets and one shaving kit containing currency notes worth Rs.20,000.00 in the denomination of Rs.100.00 were recovered from room No. 4 during the search. The carton contained black sticks wrapped in polythene. The sticks were smelled and were found to be charas. One weighing scale (Ext. P7) and weights (Ext.P8 to P12) were also found. The charas was weighed with the help of the scale and the weights and its weight was found to be 1 Kg 200 grams of charas. Currency notes of Rs.20,000.00, purse, scale, weights and carton were seized by the police. Charas was put in a cloth parcel and the parcel was sealed with six impressions of seal 'EW'. Currency notes were put in the purse/shaving kit and the purse was sealed in a cloth parcel with four impressions of seal 'EW'. Scale and weights were put in a Borru and the Borru was sealed with one seal impression of seal 'EW'. The carton was put in another Borru and the Borru was sealed with one seal of seal impression 'EW'. The seal impression (Ext. PW1/B) was taken on a separate piece of cloth. NCB-I form (Ext. PW9/D) was filled in triplicate and the seal was handed over to Babu Ram after the use. The parcels were seized vide memo (Ext.PW1/C). The police registered the FIR (Ext. PW14/A) based on the rukka. ASI-Desh Raj conducted the investigation. He prepared the spot map (Ext. PW15/B) and recorded the statements of the witnesses as per their version. He arrested the accused and gave the arrest information to the son of the accused vide memo (Ext.PW15/E). He conducted the personal search of the accused and prepared the memo (Ext. PW15/F). The photographs of the proceedings (Ext.PW3/A1 to PW3/A8) were taken. The video recording of the proceedings was transferred to the CD (Ext. PW3/B) and Surjeet Singh issued the certificate (Ext. PW3/C). The case property was handed over to Inspector Surjeet Kumar (PW14), who re-sealed the parcel containing charas with four seal impressions of seal 'H'. He also put the seal impression on the NCB-I form (Ext. PW9/D) and filled in the relevant columns. He obtained the sample seal 'H' on a separate piece of cloth (Ext. PW14/C) and issued the certificate regarding the re-sealing (Ext. PW14/D). The case property was deposited with HC-Ashwin Kumar (PW9), who made an entry in the Malkhana Register (Ext. PW9/A) and kept it in safe condition in Malkhana. He handed over the parcel containing the charas, sample seal and NCB-I form to ASI-Desh Raj to get the inventory certified. The parcel was produced before Ms Kanika Chawla, learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nurpur (PW16) along with an application (Ext. PW15/H) for certifying the inventory. She certified the inventory (Ext. PW15/J). The case property was again deposited with HC Ashwin Kumar. The information (Ext. PW7/A) was handed over to SDPO, Jawali on 7/7/2016 at 2:50 pm. SDPO Jawali made an endorsement on the information and handed it over to his reader, HC-Devanand (PW7), who made an entry in the NDPS Register (Ext. PW7/B) and got it signed by SDPO, Jawali. A special report (Ext. PW7/C) was handed over to SDPO, Jawali by LC-Mamta on 9/7/2016. SDPO, Jawali made the endorsement on the special report and handed it over to HC-Devanand (PW7), who made the entry at serial No. 9 in the NDPS Register (Ext. PW7/D). The parcels were handed over to HHC-Vimal Kumar with sample seals and NCB-I form with a direction to deposit them in FSL, Junga vide RC No.111/21 (Ext. PW9/C), who deposited them in FSL, Junga and handed over the receipt to HC-Ashwin Kumar. The result of chemical analysis (Ext. PA) was issued, in which it was shown that the exhibit was an extract of cannabis and a sample of charas, which contained 24.55% w/w resin in it. The statements of the remaining witnesses were recorded as per their version and after the completion of the investigation, the challan was prepared and presented before the Court.

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