IMPORTANT POINT
Non-compliance with Section 50 of the NDPS Act during the search invalidates the recovery of contraband, leading to acquittal.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The present appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 13.04.2023, passed by learned Special Judge, Sundernagar, District Mandi, H.P., vide which the appellant (accused before learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (hereinafter to be referred as ‘the ND&PS Act’) and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for fouryears, pay a fine of Rs.20,000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for six months 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 appeal are that the police presented a challan against the accused for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of the ND&PS Act. It was asserted that HC Ram Lal (PW9), H.C. Sanjeev Kumar (PW6), HHC Kishori Lal, Constable Chet Ram, and LHC Deena Nath had set up the nakka at Naulakha to check vehicles on 19.06.2014. They stopped a bus bearing registration number PB-12Q-9952, which was coming from Manali and going to Chandigarh. The police began checking the luggage of the passengers. The passenger occupying the last seat became frightened. H.C. Ram Lal, along with conductor Pavitar Singh (PW1), inquired about the name of the passenger, who revealed his name as Charanjit Singh (the accused). H.C. Ram Lal informed the accused that he (H.C. Ram Lal) suspected that the accused was carrying narcotics, and that the accused had the right to be searched before a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer. The accused consented to a search by the police. A memo (Ex. PW1/B) was prepared. The police party gave their personal search to the accused, and nothing incriminating was found in their possession. Memo (Ex.PW1/A) was prepared. H.C. Ram Lal conducted the personal search of the accused and recovered one polythene packet (Ex.P2) from the right pocket of the accused's pants.The packet was checked, and it was found to contain black sticks (Ex. P3). These were identified as cannabis. H.C. Ram Lal weighed the cannabis along with the polythene packet, finding its total weight to be 202 grams. He weighed the cannabis without the packet, which weighed 195 grams. He placed the cannabis back into the polythene packet in the same manner as it was recovered. He then placed the polythene packet into a cloth parcel and sealed it with six seals marked ‘H’. He filled out the relevant sections of the NCB-1 form (PW4/E) in triplicate and applied the seal impression ‘H’ on the form. He obtained a specimen seal impression (Ex. PW1/C) on a separate piece of cloth and handed over the seal to H.C. Sanjeev Kumar (PW6) after its use. He took photographs (Ex.PW9/A/1 to Ex.PW9/A/4). He seized the parcel, NCB-1 form in triplicate, and sample seal vide memo (Ex. PW1/D). He prepared a rukka (Ex.PW9/B) and handed it over to LHC Deena Nath (PW7) with instructions to take it to the police station at BSNL Colony, Sundernagar. LHC Deena Nath delivered the rukka to Rattan Singh (PW4), who registered the FIR (Ex. PW4/A) and returned the case file to LHC Deena Nath with instructions to take it to the spot. ASI Ram Lal prepared a site plan (Ex.PW9/C) and recorded statements of the witnesses as per their accounts. He arrested the accused vide memo (Ex. PW9/D) and conducted his personal search vide memo (Ex. PW6/A). He presented the accused and the case file before Rattan Singh (PW4). Rattan Singh checked the seals of the parcel and resealed it with six seals marked ‘T’, and obtained the sample seal on a separate cloth (Ex. PW4/D). He prepared a memo of resealing (PW4/C), filled columns 9 to 11 of the NCB-1 form, and applied seal ‘T’ on the form. He handed over the case property, documents, and sample seals to LHC Nand Lal (PW8), who mad