IMPORTANT POINT
A sentence awarded under the NDPS Act can be suspended by the Appellate Court only and strictly subject to the conditions as spelt out in Section 37 of the Act.

JUDGMENT

Dr. Arijit Pasayat, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. Challenge in this appeal is to the Judgment of a learned Single Judge of the Allahabad High Court dismissing the application filed by the appellant for suspension of sentence and grant of bail. Appellant-Ratan Kumar Vishwas has filed an Appeal No. 6636 of 2006 questioning his conviction the offence punishable under Sections 27A and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short ‘the Act’). He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 14 years and to pay a fine of rupees two lacs with default stipulation. Learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court No. 1, Kanpur Nagar has found the appellant guilty and convicted and sentenced him as aforesaid.

3. Brief facts of the case as projected by prosecution are that a secret and reliable information on 5.3.2004 was received by the complainant an officer of the N.C.B., Varanasi that huge quantity of Charas was being brought from Nepal to Kanpur in Truck No. UHN 9137 and same was standing at Kanodia Auto Centre, Lucknow Kanpur bypass road and it belonged to Akhilesh Kumar Bajpai son of Srikant Bajpai, resident of 127/333, Nirala Nagar, Kanpur Nagar. This information was reduced to writing and thereafter Intelligence Officers, U.K. Singh and K.K. Mishra along with S. Rallabhandi, S.K. Singh and R.K. Gupta, also Intelligence Officers, Ramnath, sepoy with driver Vijendra Kumar, proceeded from camp office, Gujani in departmental vehicle number U.P. 65-S-6951 and U.P 65-V-7826 and reached near the Kanodia Auto Centre at about 9 p.m. Two persons standing nearby were called and they disclosed their names as Rajendra Prasad and Ramjee Singh. After explaining the purpose for which they were requested to be present i.e. during search, they agreed. At 9.05 p.m. a team reached near the above truck and three persons were found sitting inside the truck and on enquiry they disclosed their names as Bhola Prasad, Shambhu Prasad and Lalji Yadav. On asking Bhola Prasad disclosed that he was driver of the Truck and Lalji was cleaner and Shambhu Prasad was owner of the Truck and told that on reaching the petrol pump at Kanpur, he had to contract Akhilesh Kumar Bajpai on phone number 0512-2616517. These officers gave their identity to these three persons and asked them in writing if they desired their vehicle to be searched in presence of a Gazetted Officer or a Magistrate which was their legal right. But they declined in writing and offered that the search be made by them. At this the officers of the N.C.B. searched the vehicle in accordance with law and in the presence of two witnesses and they found black colour plates wrapped in polythene kept in plastic bags in specially made secret cavity behind the cabin of the Truck. On testing with the test kit possessed by the N.C.B. Officers, the recovered black colour plates were found to be Charas. The recovered Charas was seized along with vehicle. However, due to darkness and unavailability of weighing facility and for security reasons, the vehicle and the arrested persons were taken to the Customs and Central Excise Office, Kanpur Nagar where they reached at about 10.45 p.m. They recovered 14 plastic bags which were weighed and the gross weight was 252.500 Kgs. and the net weight was 250.400 Kgs. Two samples of 25 grams each were drawn from all the 14 bags and were marked and kept in separate sealed envelopes. All the packets of samples were signed by the accused persons and the witnesses and the officers of the N.C.B. The accused Bhola Prasad, Shambhu Prasad admitted that they had to take that Charas to Akhilesh Kumar Bajpai. They also told that accused Govind Singh of Nepal State with the help of accused Kamal and Virendra Kumar had visited Veerganj in Nepal few days earlier to meet Govind and to finalise the deal for Charas.

4. At that time, the recovery memo was also prepared which was duly signed by the accused, witnesses and the officers of the N.C.B. Thereafter th