The court confirmed convictions under the NDPS Act, emphasizing strict standards of evidence and the presumption of guilt regarding drug possession, while minor discrepancies in testimonies were deemed insufficient to overturn the findings.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The present appeals are directed against the judgment and order dated 07.03.2020, vide which the appellants (accused persons before the Trial Court) were convicted of the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 (b)(ii)(c) read with Sections 25 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short ‘NDPS Act and were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 12 years each and to pay a fine of Rs.1,20,000/- each and in default of payment of the fine to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each for the commission of aforesaid offence. In addition to the above, the accused Naseer Mohammed was also convicted of the commission of an offence punishable under Section 473 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE (in short ‘IPC’) and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/-for the commission of the aforesaid offence. (Parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience).

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present appeals are that the police presented a challan against the accused before the learned Trial Court for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 20 , 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act. It was asserted that ASI-Govind Pal (PW19), HHC-Mohammad Aslam (PW1), Constable Sunil Kumar (PW4), HHC-Manohar Lal (PW2), LC Rajni Rani (not examined), LC Sabina (PW7) were present on traffic checking and nakabandi duty at Behi near Koti Tissa, Chamba Road in the official vehicle bearing registration No. HP-48-1220 with I.O. kit, electronic scale, mega light, official camera etc. A motorcycle bearing registration No. HP-12A-2732 came from Tissa. ASI-Govind Pal signalled the driver to stop the motorcycle. One woman was sitting as a pillion rider, who had kept a purse on her left shoulder. The motorcycle driver revealed his name as Naseer and the pillion rider revealed her name as Dilo Begum. She got frightened on inquiry by the police. The police called Tarun Abrol (PW3) from a nearby shop and checked the purse being carried by Dilo Begum. One white shawl was found inside the purse. The purse was unzipped and it was found to contain a carry bag (Ext. P6). The carry bag was opened and it was found to contain charas (Ext. P7). The charas was weighed with the help of an electronic weighing scale and its weight was found to be 2.010 kgs. The charas was put in the carry bag. The Carry bag was put in the purse. Shawl (Ext. P5) was also put in the purse (Ext.P4). The purse was wrapped in a cloth parcel (Ext. P1). The parcel was sealed with six impressions of seal ‘SB’. The seal impression (Ext.PW1/A) was taken on a separate piece of cloth. NCB-1 Form (Ext. PW19/A) was filled in triplicate. A sample seal was put on the Form. The parcel and the vehicle bearing registration No. HP-12A-2732 were seized vide memo (Ext.PW1/B). Signatures of witnesses Tarun Abrol, HHC Mohammed Aslam and LC Sabina Devi were obtained on the memo. A copy of the seizure memo was supplied to each of the accused. Rukka (Ext. PW15/B) and its copy (Ext. PW8/A) were prepared and handed over to HHC-Manohar Lal with a direction to carry the original to the police station and the carbon copy to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Headquarters. HHC-Manohar Lal handed over the original Rukka at Police Station, Sadar and its carbon copy to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Chamba. FIR (Ext. PW15/A) was registered in the Police Station based on the Rukka. The case file was handed over to HHC-Manohar Lal with a direction to carry it to the spot. HHC-Manohar Lal handed over the case file to ASI Govind Pal, who filled in the FIR number on the documents. Deputy Superintendent