The possession of narcotics and the compliance with procedural safeguards under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act were the central legal points established in the judgment.

Ashok Kumar Verma, J.

1. Both these criminal appeals arise out of the same judgment and order, dated 16th of October, 1996, passed by the Sessions Judge, Motihari in Excise Case No. 96 of 1995. Therefore, both these criminal appeals are disposed of by this common judgment. In criminal Appeal No. 596 of 1996 the sole appellant is Jaan Mohammad @ Geinivin Daubin and in Criminal Appeal No. 27 of 1997 the appellant is Sheela Bhatt. Both the appellants have been convicted under Section 23 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (hereinafter called, the Act) by the Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, Motihari, and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for fourteen years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,50,000/- (one lac and fifty thousand) each and in default of payment of fine to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for three years.

2. In short the case of the prosecution is that on receipt of a confidential information the Assistant Commissioner, Customs (P) Division, Motihari, led a customs preventive party, including the complainant Navin Chandra, Inspector, Customs, (P) Motihari, and proceeded for interception of suspected foreign nationals travelling in Maruti Van No. BR-1B-3210 on Motihari-Patna Road. After a hot and continuous chase the suspected vehicle Maruti Van bearing registration No. BR-1B-3210 which had the foreign nationals as its occupants, was located and intercepted at Pipra. In the vehicle there were two foreign nationals, including a lady, besides the driver and owner of the Maruti Van. The lady disclosed her name as Sheela Bhatt and said that she, along with her husband, was going to Delhi via Patna and she showed her Nepali passport. The said husband of the lady failed to show any passport or visa. The raiding party checked the Maruti Van and the luggages on it but nothing could be detected there.

3. As the complainant has specific information about possible carriage of sophisticated and costly contraband goods, the vehicle, along with its four occupants, were taken to the Motihari customs office for thorough check and search with two independent witnesses from the spot. The Maruti Van was thoroughly checked again but nothing could be found. A miscroscopic search was carried out in the two travelling bags after emptying clothings and other belongings of the foreign nationals before the two independent witnesses and the four occupants of the vehicle and the concealed bottom portion of the two travel bags were cut open by the complainant with the help of sharp blade and white powder (suspected to be narcotic drugs) in eighteen small idential packets and in two large packets of pofythene were recovered from the travel bags of the accused persons. The packets had been heavily perfumed with intention to deceive the officers about correct identity of the contents inside the polythene packets. The recovered packets were weighed in presence of the accused persons and independent witnesses and the Assistant Commissioner of Customs and the Superintendents of Customs were also present at that time. The white powder, which were recovered, were tested in presence of the accused persons and the customs officials on U.N.O. chemical kit provided to the department and it was observed that the white powder was a narcotic drug mentioned in Schedule I and Schedule ll of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

4. The three male accused persons were thoroughly searched before the gazetted officer and in presence of independent witnesses and the lady accused, Mrs. Sheela Bhatt, was searched by lady Inspector of Customs, Smt. K.K. Sinha On further enquiry and in course of interrogation of the four accused persons it was revealed that Mrs. Sheela Bhatt and Mr. Daubin had gone to Bangkok (Thailand) from Kathmandu for their honeymoon, but they had no documentary evidence of their marriage. Mrs. Sheela Bhatt refuted the story of marriage and had said before the Customs officials that she had gone to