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2004 Supreme(P&H) 1337
PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
Virender Singh and S.N.Aggarwal JJ.
Gurinder Singh
Versus
Union Territory, Chandigarh
Criminal Appeal No. 503 of 2000,
Decided On : DECEMBER 10, 2004
The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation and application of the concept of conscious possession under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Headnote:
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act - Conscious possession - Section 21
Fact of the Case:
The appellant and his co-accused were booked under Section 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for allegedly carrying heroin in a Maruti Van. The appellant was convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for fifteen years and a fine of Rs. 1 lac.
Finding of the Court:
The court found the prosecution able to prove the conscious possession of heroin by the appellant and upheld his conviction and sentence.
Issues: The main issue was the conscious possession of the contraband by the appellant and his co-accused.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the prosecution had successfully proven the conscious possession of the contraband by the appellant, despite the defense's arguments attacking the investigation and the timing of events.
Final Decision: The court upheld the appellant's conviction and sentence, finding no merit in the appeal.
Virender Singh, J.
1. To begin with we may mention that in the paper-book, the title of the present appeal is wrongly shown as Gurinder Singh v. State of Punjab, whereas the respondent is to be described as Union Territory, Chandigarh. Therefore, the present appeal shall now be captioned as "Gurinder Singh v. Union Territory, Chandigarh."
2. Appellant Gurinder Singh son of Avtar Singh, resident of village Bagha Kalan, District Amritsar along with his co-accused Sunil Kumar son of Mohan Lal Sharma, resident of Amritsar was booked in a case bearing FIR No. 177, dated 8.8.1997, registered at police station Sector 39 Chandigarh under Section 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (in short "the Act") for allegedly carrying 9 Kgs. and 165 Grams of heroin (smack) on 8.8.1997 in a Maruti Van bearing registration No. PB-02-3968.
3. Both the accused were of the age of about 20 years at the time of alleged recovery and were students. Sunil Kumar died during trial and as such the proceedings qua him were dropped and appellant stands convicted for the said charge vide impugned judgment dated 11.8.2000 of learned Judge, Special Court, Chandigarh. He has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for fifteen years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1 lac, in default thereof to suffer further RI for two years. The van was also ordered to be confiscated. Aggrieved by the impugned judgment, he has preferred the present appeal. However, no appeal has been filed by the Superdar/owner of the van.
4. The prosecution case in brief runs thus :
On 8.8.1997 at 4.20 P.M. Inspector Mani Ram, SHO, Police Station, Sector 39, Chandigarh along with SI Jagir Singh, Constables Dalbir Singh, Sapinder Singh, Bhoop Singh, Krishan Pal and Narinder Singh was present near Dadu Majra colony turn, when he received a secret information to the effect that two boys were coming with a heavy quantity of smack for sale from Punjab to Chandigarh in a Maruti Van No. PB-02-K-3968 and if naka (blockade) is laid, they could be apprehended. Considering the information to be reliable, Inspector Mani Ram sent a ruqa (Ex. PD) to the senior officer (DSP Surjit Singh-PW9) through Constable Krishan Pal (No. 3122-PW4), intimating him of the secret information. An endorsement Ex. PW was made by DSP Surjit Singh, upon which DDR No. 39 (Ex. PF) was recorded on the same day at 6.40 PM in police station Sector 39 Chandigarh. Kuldip Kumar (PW4) son of Tilak Raj and Mukesh Kumar (PW-10) son of Faquir Chand also reached the spot and they were joined in the raiding party. Thereafter the raiding party reached Palsora Colony turning, Sector 39 Chandigarh and put a naka there. SI Pale Ram, SI Bishi Ram and another Constable Krishan Pal (there are two constables by the same name viz. Krishan Pal) also reached there, who were also joined in the raiding party. After sometime the aforesaid van came at a very high speed. It was got stopped. Sunil Kumar (deceased) was driving the van whereas the appellant was sitting on the front seat with him. A green and a black coloured raxine bag was lying on the small seat in between the seats of both of them. They were asked by Inspector Mani Ram that they were suspected to be in possession of some smack, for which their van was to be searched and if they so desired, they could get their search conducted before a gazetted officer or a Magistrate. On this they opted to be searched before a gazetted officer. DSP Surjit Singh was given a telephonic message to reach the spot. On reaching there, he sought their option regarding search before him after apprising them that he was a gazetted officer. On their no objection, their van was searched. On search of the said raxine bag, it was found to contain 10 white cloth bags each containing smack. The bags were marked as serial Nos. 1 to 10. The total smack recovered from the said 10 bags was found to be 9 Kgs and 165 Grams. 15 Grams was taken out of each bag as sample. All the samples were put in plast
