JUDGMENT

Tarlok Singh Chauhan, J. (Oral) - The Narcotic Control Bureau has filed the instant Appeal under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Section 36-B of the NDPS Act against the judgment passed by learned Special Judge, Mandi, H.P. in Sessions Trial No. 20 of 2012 whereby the respondents have been acquitted from the charge framed under Sections 20 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (for short NDPS Act).

2. The learned Special Judge has acquitted all the Accused on the grounds; firstly, that the independent witness had clearly stated that he had been taken to the office of NCB by his friend Harish where his signature had been obtained by the NCB team. Secondly, the statements of the respondents recorded under Section 67 of the Act, while they were in custody of NCB team have no evidentiary value and reliance in this regards has been placed on the Division Bench judgment Navin Sood vs. Narcotic Central Bureau, (2010) 1 Latest HLJ 449. Thirdly, the non-association of independent witness of locality and the manner in which such witnesses came to be so-called ''associated'' was also held to be a circumstance which made the entire case of