An appellate court must exercise caution in overriding a trial court's acquittal; substantial contradictions in witness testimonies and integrity of evidence undermine prosecution's case.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

1. The present appeal is directed against the judgment dated 31.03.2021 passed by learned Special Judge-II, Kullu, H.P. (learned Trial Court) vide which the respondent (accused before learned Trial Court) was acquitted of the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short ‘ND&PS’ Act). (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 before the learned Trial Court for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 20 of the ND&PS Act. It was asserted that ASI Nand Lal (PW9), HC Ravinder Kumar, Constable Ved Ram (PW6), and HHC Hukum Chand were patrolling towards Shangana Bridge on 20.12.2017 at about 9:30 PM when they saw the accused coming towards Manikaran. When the accused saw the police party, he returned and tried to conceal himself beneath Shangana Bridge. ASI Nand Lal (PW9) became suspicious of the conduct of the accused; hence, he apprehended the accused with the help of the accompanying police officials. He enquired about the reason for running, but the accused could not give any satisfactory answer. The accused appeared to be frightened. The police checked the accused and found that he had concealed one carry bag (Ex.P2) beneath his left armpit. ASI Nand Lal (PW9) sent Constable Ved Ram (PW6) to bring an independent witness. Constable Ved Ram (PW6) brought Diwan Chand (PW7) with him. The accused revealed his name as Sanju Gurang. ASI Nand Lal (PW9) searched the carry bag and found that it contained three transparent polythene packets (Ext.P3 to Ext.P5). ASI Nand Lal (PW9) opened three packets and found black spheres (Ext.P6) in them. Each sphere was wrapped with a polythene wrapper. ASI Nand Lal (PW9) smelled the spheres and found them to be cannabis. He weighed the cannabis and found its weight to be 2 kg 504 grams. He put the cannabis and the empty wrappers in the carry bag. He tied the carry bag and put it in the cloth parcel. He sealed the cloth parcel with eight impressions of seal ‘V’. He filled the NCB-1 Form (Ex.PW1/C) and put the seal impression on the NCB-1 Form. He obtained the seal impression on a separate piece of cloth (Ext.PW6/A) and handed over the seal to witness Diwan Chand (PW7) after the use. He prepared the memo (Ext.PW-6/C) regarding handing over the seal ‘V’ to the witness, Diwan Chand (PW7). ASI Nand Lal (PW9) seized the case property vide memo (Ext.PW6/B). He prepared the rukka (Ext.PW9/A) and handed it over to Constable Ved Ram (PW6) with the directions to carry it to the Police Station. Constable Ved Ram (PW6) carried the rukka to the Police Station where FIR (Ex.PW9/F) was registered. ASI Nand Lal (PW9) conducted the investigation. He prepared the spot map (Ext.PW9/C) and recorded the statements of the witnesses as per their versions. He arrested the accused vide memo (Ext.PW9/D). He searched the accused and prepared the memo (Ext.PW9/E). He produced the accused along with the case property before SI Ajit Singh (PW4) on 21.12.2017 at about 12:47 PM. SI Ajeet Singh checked the seals and found them to be intact. He resealed the parcel with four seals of seal ‘A’. He obtained the seal impression on a separate piece of cloth (Ext.PW4/A). He filled columns No. 9 to 11 of the NCB-1 Form and put the seal impression ‘A’ on the NCB-1 Form. He handed over the parcel, samp