For an accused to be convicted under drug laws, the prosecution must prove a direct link between them and the crime, relying solely on co-accused statements is insufficient evidence.

JUDGMENT :

Tarlok Singh Chauhan, J.

Aggrieved by the order of acquittal of the respondent for the offence punishable under Sections 20 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (in short, “the NDPS Act”), the petitioner-State has filed the instant petition for grant of leave to appeal.

2 The parties do not dispute that the case as set out by the prosecution has correctly been enumerated by the learned Special Judge, therefore, the same is extracted as such from the judgment.

“2. Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution is that H.C. Nek Ram (PW-18), constable Mahinder Singh (PW-1), constable Vivek Sen (PW-2), constable Pushap Raj and HHG Kapil Dev were on patrolling duty in a private vehicle bearing registration no. HP 32-A-3153 bei.ng driven by H.C. Nek Ram. They were sitting in the vehicle at 12:40 pm near the Bajaj showroom. The accused was coming towards Gutkar. When he reached the vehicle in which the police were sitting, he started walking briskly. H.C. Nek Ram opened the door of the vehicle and the accused started running. The po lice apprehended the accused. The accused fell on his knees and said that he should be pardoned as he has done some illegal act. He had a backpack (Ex. MO6) with him. The police became suspicious that the backpack was containing some illegal substance or forest produce. H.C. Nek Ram directed Constable Pushap Raj and HHG Kapil Dev to detain the accused. He asked the inmates of the vehicles passing the spot to become witnesses; however, they declined. H.C. Nek Ram called Krishan Bhanu, a local counsellor, who g told him that he was away to Mandi and would return in the evening. H.C. Nek Ram called Chanderesh Chandel (Pw-17) and requested him to become a witness. He agreed. H.C. Nek Ram directed Constable Vivek Sen to bring another witness. Constable Vivek Sen called Sanjay Kumar and requested him to become a witness. Chanderesh Chandel reached the spot in his vehicle bearing registration no. HP-33- D-6184. Sanjay Kumar reached the spot in the vehicle bearing registration no. HP 87-A-3007. The accused revealed his name as Chetan Parkash on inquiry. The police told the accused that a search of his backpack was to be conducted and he had a right to search the police party; however, the accused declined. H.C. Nek Ram searched the backpack. One light yellow carry bag bearing the words "Thank you" (Ex. MO2) was found inside the backpack. The carry bag had black sticks (Ex. MO3) some of which were wrapped with transparent polythene (Ex. MO4) and some were unwrapped. H.C. Nek Ram checked the sticks and they were found to be charas. He weighed the charas on an electronic weighing scale and its weight was found to be 1.506 Kg. The charas was put in the carry bag from which it was recovered and the carry bag was put in the backpack in the same manner in which it was recovered. H.C. Nek Ram handed over the backpack to Chandresh Chandel and started to prepare the parcel. However, it started raining. H.C. Nek Ram requested Chanderesh Chandel to name some place where the proceedings could be conducted. Chanderesh Chandel took them to Auto Hub opposite the Competent showroom. The police party, the accused and the witnesses reached Auto Hub. The charas was again weighed and its weight was found to be 1.500 kilograms. The charas was put in the carry bag and the g carry bag was put in a cloth parcel (Ex. MO1). The parcel was sealed with ten impressions of seal BLH O. The parcel was marked as "A". The backpack was put in another cloth parcel (Ex. MO5) and the parcel was sealed with thirteen impressions of seal BLH O. The parcel was marked as "B". Sample seal (Ex. P1/PW1) was taken on a separate piece of cloth. H.C. Nek Ram filled the re