JUDGMENT

Pattanaik, J.-Leave granted.

2. The appellant was tried by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Mahsana in the State of Gujarat, for the offence under Section 20-B(2) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ), as he was found in possession of 9 gms. of Charas on 10.5.1992, which he was selling outside his house. The learned Addl. Sessions Judge, on consideration of the prosecution evidence, came to the conclusion that prosecution has been able to establish beyond reasonable doubt that Charas was found from the pocket of the trouser of the accused, which weight about 9 gms. and as such the accused must be held to have committed the offence under Section 20-B(2) of the Act. He accordingly, convicted the accused of the said offence and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of rupees one lakh. On appeal by the accused, the High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence and hence the present appeal.

3. The prosecution case in nutshell is that on receipt of certain information that the accused is dealing with narcotics, the empowered officer called the panch witnesses and raided the house o