2026:CGHC:9156 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 36 of 2019 Purushottam Verma S/o Sen Kumar Verma Aged About 23 Years R/o Juda, Police Station Kasdol District Baloda Bazar Chhattisgarh., District : Balodabazar-Bhathapara, Chhattisgarh ... Appellant versus State Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, Police Of Police Station- Sankra, District Mahasamund Chhattisgarh., District :

Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s)

For Appellant : Mr. Yogesh Chandra, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Rajkumar Sahu, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Justice Arvind Kumar Verma Judgment on Board

20/02/2026

1. This criminal appeal has been filed under Section 374 (2) of Cr.P.C., 1973 by the appellant against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 24.12.2018 passed by the learned Special Judge (N.D.P.S. Act), Mahasamund (C.G.), in Special Criminal Case (NDPS Act) No. H-21/2017, whereby the appellant has been convicted and sentenced as follows:-

Convicted Sentenced to U/s 20(b)(ii)(B) of R.I. for 3 years with fine of Rs. N.D.P.S. Act, 1985 10,000/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 6 months.

2. The prosecution case, in brief, is that Assistant Sub-Inspector Teerthraj Gunendra received information from an informer on 06.06.2017 that a person was transporting illegal narcotic sub- stance (ganja), tied in a plastic sack, for the purpose of sale from village Bhandarpur towards Udeesa (Odisha). Upon receiving the information, witnesses Lokesh Rana and Parmanand Netam were called. Through Constable No. 469 Sardar Suraj Kurre, the infor- mation memo and a search panchnama (without warrant) were prepared and sent to the police station. Constable No. 354 Rajen- dra Chauhan was sent to the SDOP Office, Pithora. Thereafter, Assistant Sub-Inspector Teerthraj Gunendra, along with the police staff and witnesses, proceeded towards village Bhatdevari near the overbridge on Saraipali Road Chowk for verification of the in- formation and further action. After some time, a person was seen coming from the Saraipali side on a motorcycle, carrying a white plastic sack tied with a rope on the rear seat of the motorcycle. He was stopped and questioned, and he disclosed his name as Pu- rushottam (caste Hona). Thereafter, a notice under Section 50 of the NDPS Act was served upon him and his consent for search was obtained. A search of the accused, police staff, witnesses, and the vehicle was conducted, but no objectionable article was found on his person. Subsequently, a search of the plastic sack tied to Motorcycle No. CG-04-KB-6876 was conducted. Inside the sack, a brown-colored polythene packet containing a narcotic sub- stance resembling ganja was found. Upon smelling, rubbing, crushing, and burning it, it was confirmed to be ganja. For the pur- pose of weighing the seized ganja, weighman Taresh Das was called by serving notice. He arrived at the spot with his electronic weighing scale. The scale was physically verified and found to be accurate. The ganja recovered from the accused was weighed by Taresh Das. The net weight of the ganja was found to be 7 kilo- grams, and when weighed along with the sack, it was found to be 7 kilograms 200 grams. From the seized ganja, for chemical test- ing, 100 grams were placed in a separate container and sealed, with the sample marked “A” on each sample. The marijuana, sam- ple packets, and motorcycle recovered from the accused were seized and a seizure memo was prepared. A site map of the scene was prepared. Upon finding evidence of incrimination against the accused, he was arrested in the presence of wit- nesses, and an arrest memo was prepared. His family member, Sen Kumar Verma, was informed of his arrest. Upon returning to Sankara Police Station, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the accused under Crime Mark 87/17, Section 20B of the NDPS Act. The seized marijuana, sample packets, and motorcy-

cle were handed over to Mal Munshi Mohan Sahu for safekeeping in the polic