Judgment

G.P. Mathur, J.—1. Delay in filing the special leave petition is condoned.

2. Leave granted.

3. This appeal has been preferred by the State of M.P. against the judgment and order dated 27.1.2004 of Justice N.S. Azad of M.P. High Court in Crl. Appeal No. 2074 of 2000.

4. The trial Court convicted the accused under Section 8 read with Section 20(b) of the N.D.P.S. Act and sentenced him to undergo R.I. for a period of 10 years and a fine of Rs. 1 lakh and in default to undergo R.I. for a further period of 3 years. The High Court partly allowed the appeal and while upholding the conviction of the accused under Section 8 read with Section 20(b) of the N.D.P.S. Act reduced the sentence to the period already undergone which is nearly 4 years and a fine of Rs. 10,000/-.

5. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that the sentence imposed by the High Court is wholly inadequate looking to the nature of the offence.

6. The High Court has not assigned any satisfactory reason for reducing the sentence and fine.

7. That apart, the High Court has written a very short and cryptic judgment. To say the least, the appeal has been disposed of in a most unsatisfactory manner exhibiting comple