STATE OF H.P. Vs. NEELMA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal is directed against the judgment dtd. 3/9/2013, passed by learned Special Judge, Kullu, H.P. (learned Trial Court), vide which the respondent (accused before learned Trial Court) was acquitted of the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short 'NDPS Act'). (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 against the accused for the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of the NDPS Act. It was asserted that ASI Ram Lal (PW9), HC Raj Pal, HHC Hem Raj (PW8), LC Uma Devi and HHG Kapil Sharma were going towards Tilla Bridge on 12/4/2011, at about 2.30 PM. They saw the accused coming from Thanagarh towards Tilla Bridge on foot. She returned after seeing the police party. She had a black bag (Ex. P2) in her right hand. She threw the bag and started running away. The police apprehended her with the help of LC Uma Devi. Gautam Ram (PW1) and Ses Ram (PW5) came from Thanagarh. They were apprised of the circumstances and were requested to become witnesses. They agreed to become witnesses. The police picked up the bag and inquired about the accused's name. She revealed her name as Neelma Devi. She could not give any satisfactory reason for throwing the bag. The police opened the bag and found Charas (Ex.P3) inside it. The police weighed the charas and found its weight to be 2 kg. Charas was put in the bag, the bag was tied with a knot and it was placed in a cloth parcel (Ex. P1). The parcel was sealed with six impressions of seal 'T'. Sample seal 'T' (Ex.PW8/A) was taken on separate pieces of cloth. NCB-1 form (Ex.PW2/C) was filled and the seal impression was put on the form. The seal was handed over to HHC Hem Raj after the use. The photographs of the spot (Ex.PW8/B1 and Ex.PW8/B2) were taken. The charas was seized vide memo (Ex.PW8/C). Rukka (Ex.PW4/A) was prepared and it was handed over to HHC Hem Raj with a direction to carry it to the Police Station. FIR (Ex.PW4/B) was registered in the Police Station. ASI Ram Lal (PW9) conducted the investigation on the spot. He prepared the site plan (Ex.PW9/A) and recorded the statements of witnesses as per their version. He arrested the accused vide memo (Ex.PW9/D) and gave the arrest information to the daughter-in-law of the accused. He produced the case property before SI Surinder Pathak (PW4), who resealed the parcel with three impressions of seal 'N'. He obtained the seal impression 'N' on the NCB-I form. He handed over the case property and the documents to HC Ramesh (PW2) who made an entry at Serial No. 52 (Ex.PW2/A) and deposited the case property in malkhana. He handed over the case property to HHC Bahadur Singh (PW3) on 15/4/2011 along with NCB-I form in triplicate, copy of seizure memo, FIR, sample seals 'N' and 'T' with a direction to carry them to FSL, Junga vide RC No. 44/2011 (Ex.PW2/B). HHC Bahadur Singh deposited all the articles at FSL, Junga and handed over the receipt to MHC Ramesh Kumar on his return. ASI Ram Lal prepared the special report (Ex.PW6/A) and handed it over to the Additional Superintendent of Police, Kullu. Additional Superintendent of Police made the endorsement on the special report and handed it over to his Reader HC Harbans (PW6) on 13/4/2011 at 3.00 PM. HC Harbans made an entry in the relevant register at Serial No.23 (Ex.PW6/B) and retained the special report with him. The result of analysis (Ex.PW4/D) was issued in which it was shown that the exhibit was an extract of cannabis and a sample of charas which contained 23.7% w/w resin. Statements of the remaining witnesses were recorded as per their version and after the completion of the investigation, a challan was prepared and presented before the Court.

(3.) The accused was charged with the commission of an offence punishable under Sec. 20 of the ND&PS Act. He pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.