(1) THE appellant was tried and convicted under Section 5 of the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000.00 in default of payment of fine to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for six months.

(2) THE appellant was arrested on 17/5/1990. a pistol is said to have been recovered from him along with two cartridges. The prosecution examined Sub-Inspector Shamsher Singh, Public Witness 4, and Inspector Jaspal Singh, Public Witness 5, to prove the prosecution case. Their testimony was believed by the Designated Court.

(3) WE have heard the learned counsel for the appellant and the learned counsel for the State of Punjab. It is not necessary for us to discuss the evidence of Public Witness 4 and Public Witness 5 as from the evidence of Public Witness 2, Sham Sunder, Head Constable and armourer, it is not established that the cartridges were sent to him for testing. And as regards pistol there is no material to show that it was sealed at the time of search. The investigation thus suffered from serious infirmity.

(4) IN these circumstances, the app