TMI Blog2003 (12) TMI 628X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ght dated 12.12.1995 about illicit transactions of Acitic N Hydrite and on the basis of it he constituted a team of officers of the Department vide order Exb.P-1 and the team along with the Director, Narcotics Control Bureau, Jodhpur started for Sri Ganganagar at 21.00 hours. Dr. R.P. Sharma informed officers of the team that one thousand litre Acitic N Hydride has been reportedly concealed in a Kachha Kotha (unripe-room) constructed in the field situated on the way of village Bhagasar Aborlya and village Chak Maharajka or in the nearby area. B.S. Vasistha (PW-1) was appointed as the seizing officer and he was ordered to execute the proceedings. In compliance thereof he reached on the site on 13.12.95 at about 6.30 hours, called independent witnesses Tiku Ram and Sakata Ram and made inquiries about the Kotha constructed in the field situated on the way of Bhagasar and Chak Maharajka village. He came to know that the Kotha belongs to accused-respondent Kuldeep Singh and the agriculture field has been given to one Fateh Mohammad for cultivation, whereupon Fateh Mohammad was called and interrogated. He informed that the Kotha belongs to accused-Kuldeep Singh. Thereupon Kuldeep Singh w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ach ground with default stipulation of one year is the maximum sentence which has been awarded by the trial Court. This was not a case where the maximum sentence should have been awarded. As there is no provision for awarding any minimum sentence for both the charges and the provisions only stipulated maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and fine upto ₹ 1,00,000/-, the maximum sentences both custodial and fine should not have been imposed. It was pointed out that the trial Court had not considered this aspect and merely on the ground that 880 litres of the contraband had been recovered and the quantity of heroine which could have been made therefrom should not have weighed for awarding the maximum sentence. With reference to the submissions made before the trial Court, it was pointed out that the father of the accused is a person of 85 years of age and the mother had expired four months earlier and there is no other earning member. Further, it was pointed out that the accused had also remained in custody for six and half years and, therefore, the custodial sentence should be reduced to the period undergone and fine imposed should also be reduced. The High Court noticed t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ouch are too well known. Normally, such a person ceases to be a normal human being, and is more or less reduced to a zombie living animal existence and rushing fast to meet the maker. Divine qualities of an individual who consumes narcotic drugs disappear and they are the first sacrifices one normally makes while falling prey to use of drugs. Anxiety of the legislature is to prevent the adverse affect of such drugs and substances on the society. The Act like any other enactment aims at regulating human conduct. Drugs abuse and drugs addiction are corroding the health fabric of the society. The efficacy of the Act depends on its implementation and a proper use of it to meet the challenges posed by the drug traffickers and smugglers and their tribe. The law has been made very stringent and, therefore, this court had occasion to highlight the need for strict compliance with the requirements of the Act. In that background the sufficiency of sentence in the case at hand has to be gauzed. Law regulates social interests, arbitrates conflicting claims and demands. Undoubtedly, there is a cross cultural conflict where living law must find answer to the new challenges and the courts are r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... it remains a strong influence in the determination of sentences. The practice of punishing all serious crimes with equal severity is now unknown in civilized societies, but such a radical departure from the principle of proportionality has disappeared from the law only in recent times. Even now for a single grave infraction drastic sentences are imposed. Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought then to be a measure of toleration that is unwarranted and unwise. But in fact, quite apart from those considerations that make punishment unjustifiable when it is out of proportion to the crime, uniformly disproportionate punishment has some very undesirable practical consequences. After giving due consideration to the facts and circumstances of each case, for deciding just and appropriate sentence to be awarded for an offence, the aggravating and mitigating factors and circumstances in which a crime has been committed are to be delicately balanced on the basis of really relevant circumstances in a dispassionate manner by the Court. Such act of balancing is indeed a difficult task. It has been very aptly indicated in Dennis Councle MCGDautha v. S ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ring the imposition of appropriate punishment. Similar view has also been expressed in Ravji v. State of Rajasthan, (1996 (2) SCC 175). It has been held in the said case that it is the nature and gravity of the crime but not the criminal, which are germane for consideration of appropriate punishment in a criminal trial. The Court will be failing in its duty if appropriate punishment is not awarded for a crime which has been committed not only against the individual victim but also against the society to which the criminal and victim belong. The punishment to be awarded for a crime must not be irrelevant but it should conform to and be consistent with the atrocity and brutality with which the crime has been perpetrated, the enormity of the crime warranting public abhorrence and it should respond to the society s cry for justice against the criminal . An offence relating to narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances is more heinous than a culpable homicide because the latter affects only an individual while the former affects and leaves its deleterious impact on the society, besides shattering the economy of the nation as well. That the legislature intended to make the offences ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iscern between right and wrong; and therefore whoever hath power to act at discretion, is bound by the rule of reason and law. (See Tomlin s Law Dictionary). Discretion, in general, is the discernment of what is right and proper. It denotes knowledge and prudence, that discernment which enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper united with caution; nice discernment, and judgment directed by circumspection; deliberate judgment; soundness of judgment; a science or understanding to discern between falsity and truth, between wrong and right, between shadow and substance, between equity and colorable glosses and pretences, and not to do according to the will and private affections of persons. When it is said that something is to be done within the discretion of the authorities, that something is to be done according to the rules of reason and justice, not according to private opinion; according to law and not humour. It is to be not arbitrary, vague, and fanciful, but legal and regular. And it must be exercised within the limit, to which an honest man, competent to the discharge of his office ought to confine himself (Per Lord Halsbury, L.C., in Sharp v. Wake ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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