Court established the necessity of presenting case property in NDPS cases; failure to do so can undermine prosecution credibility and convictions.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

1. The present appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 01.03.2021 passed by learned Special Judge, Chamba, H.P. (learned Trial Court) vide which the appellant (accused before the learned Trial Court) was convicted of the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 (b)(ii)(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short ‘NDPS Act’) and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years, pay a fine of Rs. 1,00,000/- and, in default of payment of the fine, to undergo further simple imprisonment for one year. (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 before the learned Trial Court for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of the NDPS Act. It was asserted that H.C. Ramesh Kumar (PW-13), HC Dinesh Kumar (PW-1), Constable Hem Raj (PW-2), HHG Raj Kumar, H.C. Sanjeev Kumar (PW-4), HHC Manohar Lal, LHC Upender Chona, Constable Sunil Kumar, Constable Sanjay Kumar (PW-12) and ASI Govind Pal were present at Koti Bridge on 01.02.2018 in an official vehicle bearing registration No. HP73-8754, being driven by Constable Dinesh Kumar and in a private vehicle bearing registration No. HP44-2048. They were checking the vehicles and the persons moving on the road. The accused came towards Koti Bridge at about 8:50 p.m. on foot. He got frightened after seeing the police and tried to go back. HC Ramesh Kumar (PW-13) apprehended him with the help of accompanying police officials. The accused was carrying a backpack (Ext.P-2) in his shoulders. He revealed his name as Chamaru Ram on enquiry. He could not give any satisfactory reply regarding the contents of the backpack and the place to which he was going. The place was lonely and deserted one. It was night time, and no independent witness was available; hence, Chamaru Ram's backpack was searched in the presence of police officials. The police found a carry bag bearing the words “Mahsem” inside the backpack. The police opened the carry bag and found black charas/cannabis. The police weighed the charas/cannabis in two lots: one lot of 700 grams and the second lot of 540 grams, and found its weight to be 1kg and 240 grams. The charas/cannabis was put in the carry bag, and the carry bag was put in the backpack in the same manner in which it was recovered. The backpack was put into a cloth parcel, and the same was sealed with six seals of ‘SA’. The seal impression was taken on a separate piece of cloth. NCB-1 form (Ext.PW13/A) was filled in triplicate. The seal impression was put on the NCB form. The parcel, NCB-I form and sample seal were seized vide memo (Ext.PW-1/B). Photographs (Ext.PW-8/A to Ext.PW-8/C) of the spot were taken by Constable Sanjay Kumar (PW-12). The seal was handed over to HC Dinesh Kumar (PW-1) after the use. Rukka (Ext.PW-2/A) was prepared and sent to the Police Station where F.I.R. (Ext.PW-11/A) was registered. HC Ramesh Kumar (PW-13) investigated the case. He prepared the site plan (Ext.PX) and recorded the statements of witnesses as per their version. He arrested the accused vide memo (Ext.PW-1/C). He searched the accused and prepared a memo (Ext.PW-1/D). The case property was produced before SI Krishan Kumar (PW-11), who resealed it with three seals of ‘SC’. SI Kirshan Kumar obtained the seal impression (Ext.PW-5/B) on a separate piece of cloth