Judgment:

Dr. Arijit Pasayat, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The State of Punjab is in appeal against the judgment of a learned Single Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, allowing the appeal filed by the present respondents, who were accused nos.1 to 4. They faced trial for offence punishable under Section 15 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short the `Act). Each was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for ten years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,00,000/-each with default stipulations. They were convicted by the learned Special Judge, Patiala, for having been found to be in possession of 16 bags of poppy husk, each containing 30 kgs.

3. According to the prosecution case, on 9.7.1999, SI Krishan Kumar along with other police officials and one PW Gurjail Singh was going from village Kadrabad to Gajewas and when they were three kilometers away from the village, they noticed three men and two women sitting on the bags lying between the surgarcane fields and a heap of earth. On seeing the police party, these persons tried to slip away. Sub Inspector Krishan Kumar stopped the vehicle and apprehended accused Puran Singh, Hari Singh, Jaswinder Kaur and C