ORDER :

The petitioner herein is the 2nd accused in S.C. No.517/2022 on the file of the First Additional Sessions Court, Thrissur. In the aforesaid case, he is accused of having committed the offences punishable under Section 20(b)(ii)(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity, “the Act”). The challenge in this petition is mounted against the order dated 05.04.2023 in Crl. M.P.No. 629/2023, by which the application filed by the learned Public Prosecutor to produce and mark the photocopy of a document was allowed.

2. Before delving into the merit of the order impugned, short facts which led to the passing of the order are required to be stated:

The prosecution allegation is that the petitioner was acting as the caretaker of the house owned by a certain Vincent. The allegation is that the 1st accused, for the purpose of sale, procured 27.530 kg of Ganja from Tamil Nadu, and the same was entrusted to the petitioner. The petitioner is alleged to have kept the contraband on the Veranda of the house. Based on source information, a search was conducted, and the contraband articles were allegedly seized.

3. Trial commenced, and during the fag end of examinatio