JUDGMENT

1. The judgment, dtd. 13/3/2009 in Sessions Case No.22 of 2007, on the file of Special Judge for NDPS Cases-cum-I Additional District & Sessions Judge, Ongole ("Special Judge" for short), is under the challenge in the present Criminal Appeal filed by the unsuccessful accused in the above said Sessions Case. The accused faced charge under Sec. 20 (b)(ii)(C) r/w 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 ("NDPS Act" for short) before the learned Special Judge and he was found guilty of the charge and he was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay fine of Rs.1, 00, 000.00, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for two years.

2. The parties to this Criminal Appeal will hereinafter be referred to as described before the learned Special Judge for the sake of convenience.

3. The State, represented by Prohibition and Excise Inspector, Podili, filed a charge sheet in Crime No.114/2006-07 of Prohibition & Excise Station, Podili under Sec. 8(c) r/w 20(b)(i) of NDPS Act, alleging in substance that the scene of offence is situated at the house of accused in S.T. Colony, Podili. On receipt of credible information through phone call about the storing of Ganja in the house of the accused, L.W.10-K. Sreedevi, Prohibition & Excise Inspector, Podili along with her staff L.W.9-D. Srinivasa Rao of Prohibition & Excise S.I., Podili; L.W.1-A. Ramanaiah, P.C.1734 of Prohibition & Excise Station, Podili; L.W.2-R. Polarao, P.C.203 of Prohibition & Excise Station, Podili and L.W.3-Sk. Ghouse Basha, H.C.161 of Prohibition & Excise Station, Podili and mediators L.W.4-Yaddanapudi Venkateswarlu and L.W.5-M.V.M. Seshachalam, proceeded to the house of the accused, near Junior College, Podili on 17/3/2007 at 1-15 p.m. On search of the house of the accused, they found 13 bags of ganja covered with clothes which are kept in the gap of the house wall of the accused tied in two gunny bags. One bag contained 10 Kgs and another bag contained 9.2 Kgs of dry ganja. They found 1.8 Kgs of ganja in small paper packets (30 + 140 packets) in the house of the accused. They arrested the accused after explaining the grounds of arrest and seized the entire contraband from the house of the accused in the presence of mahazar witnesses under the cover of mahajarnama. During seizure L.W.10 took 100 grams of ganja from each gunny bag and another approximate 100 grams of ganja from the newspaper packets and she sealed and labeled three samples. She returned to the Prohibition & Excise Station along with arrested accused and seized contraband and registered the mahazar report as a case in Crime No.114/2006- 07 under Sec. 8(c) r/w 20(b)(i) of NDPS Act and took up investigation. She visited the scene of offence and examined the same. She further examined L.W.6-S. Seetharamaiah, Panchayat Secretary, Podili, L.W.7-Sreeramula Sarojini and L.W.8-Kandela Venkateswarlu and recorded their statements. During investigation she forwarded the samples to the Chemical Examiner for Prohibition & Excise, Guntur. The Chemical analyst opined that the samples are of ganja. Hence, the charge sheet.

4. The learned Special Judge took cognizance under Sec. 8(c) r/w 20(b)(i)(C) of NDPS Act and after complying necessary formalities under Sec. 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ("Cr.P.C." for short), framed a charge under Sec. 20 (b)(ii)(C) r/w 8(c) of the NDPS Act against the accused and explained to him in Telugu, for which he pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

5. In order to establish the guilt against the accused, before the learned Special Judge, the prosecution examined P.W.1 to P.W.6 and got marked Ex.P.1 to Ex.P.7 and M.O.1 to M.O.6. After closure of the evidence of prosecution, the accused was examined under Sec. 313 of Cr.P.C. with reference to the incriminating circumstances appearing in the evidence let in for which he denied the same. During Sec. 313 of Cr.P.C. examination, he stated that on 16/3/2007 there was a