MOHAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant (hereinafter referred to as the 'accused') herein is a convict. He has been tried for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as 'NDPS Act' in short) with the allegations that when on suspicion his search was conducted on 19.11.2015 around 11.40 p.m near parking of Samiti Guest House, Anni, District Kullu, charas weighing 1.700 Kg. was recovered from his exclusive and conscious possession. On finding the charge framed against him proved in view of the evidence produced during the course of trial, he has been convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay Rs. 1,00,000/- as fine vide impugned judgment dated 19.06.2017 passed by learned Special Judge, Kinnaur at Rampur Bushehar in Sessions Trial No. 4-R/3 of 2014/16.

(2.) On 19.11.2015, PW-6 Inspector/SHO Santosh Kumar accompanied by other police officials namely, HHC Chande Ram, Constable Vipin Kumar and HC Mohan Joshi was on routine patrol in Anni bazar. Rapat Ext. P-Y was entered in daily diary in this regard. Around 10.40 p.m when police party reached near Samiti Guest House parking, Anni, accused was spotted coming from Naldehra side towards Anni. On noticing the police party, he turned behind and tried to flee away towards Naldehra. On suspicion, he was apprehended and when asked to disclose his antecedents, he disclosed his name as Mohar Singh. It appears to the I.O. PW-6 that accused had concealed something in left side of blue coloured jacket of 'Puma' brand, he had worn at that time. On such suspicion having arisen, PW-6 the IO deputed Constable Vipin Kumar and HC Mohan Joshi in search of independent witnesses. They came back alone within 15-20 minutes, as no-one was available nearby being dead hours of the night. PW-6 had thus associated HHC Chande Ram and PW-4 Mohan Joshi to witness the search and seizure. It is in their presence, the accused was apprised about his legal right of being searched before a Magistrate or a Gazetted Officer vide memo Ext. PW-4/A. He, however, opted for his search by the police party present there. The I.O. and other members of the police party first gave their personal search to the accused vide memo Ext. PW-4/B, however, nothing incriminating could be recovered from them. It is thereafter the I.O. PW-6 has conducted the search of the accused and recovered a white coloured carry bag (Ext. P-A1) allegedly concealed beneath the jacket in left side of his body, on which 'V2 KART' was written. On opening the knot of the bag, black coloured substance Ext. P-A2 in the shape of ball was found kept therein. The I.O. PW-6 on the basis of his experience found the recovered substance to be charas. The same was weighed and found 1.700 Kg. The contraband along with carry bag was put into a parcel of cloth and sealed with six seals of impression 'T'. The specimen of seal impression 'T' was obtained on a piece of cloth, which is Ext. PW-4/D. The relevant columns of NCB forms Ext. PW-5/C were filled in and the impression of seal 'T' also drawn thereon. The seal after its use was handed over to PW-4 HC Mohan Joshi. The recovered charas along with NCB forms was taken into possession vide memo Ext. PW-4/B. It is thereafter the rukka Ext. PW-1/A reduced into writing and sent to police station, Anni through PW-4 HC Mohan Joshi. On the basis of rukka, FIR Ext. PW-1/B came to be registered in the police station. The I.O. also prepared the spot map Ext. PW-6/A and clicked the photographs Ext. PW-6/B-1 to Ext. PW-6/B-3. The accused was arrested and grounds of arrest disclosed to him vide memo Ext. PW-6/B. The statements of witnesses were recorded as per their version. PW-4 who had gone to police station along with rukka also returned to the spot in the meanwhile and handed over the case file to the I.O PW-6.

(3.) On completion of investigation on the spot, PW-6 handed over the case property along with seal and NCB forms to PW-5 Bal Krishan, the then MHC Police Station, Anni. PW-5 has filled in the relevant columns of NCB forms Ext. PW-5/C and the case property was handed over to PW-2 HHC Santosh Kumar with a direction to deposit the same in the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Junga vide RC No. 34/15. PW-5 accordingly deposited the case property in safe condition in the laboratory and returned the receipt over the copy of RC Ext. PW-5/B to malkhana Incharge in the police station.