TMI Blog2016 (4) TMI 538X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rt. - Apex Court decided against the appellant - Crl.A.No.50/2016 @ Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 2082/2015 - - - Dated:- 19-1-2016 - V. GOPALA GOWDA AND UDAY UMESH LALIT, JJ For the Petitioner : Mr. Rakesh Dahiya,Adv. For the Respondent : Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen,Adv. JUDGMENT UDAY U. LALIT, J. 1. Leave granted. 2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 11.12.2014 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dismissing Criminal Appeal No. S-318-SB of 2004 preferred by the appellant against his conviction under Section 18 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ) for being in possession of 1 kg of opium witho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o be 1kg 50gms. A sample was taken and put in a small plastic bag while the remainder was put in a bag of cloth. The sample and the remainder were separately sealed and taken in possession vide memo Ext. PB. The seal was then handed over to PW1 ASI Bishamber Lal. Thereafter Ruqa Ext. PC was sent to the Police Station for registration of crime, whereupon FIR Ext. PC was recorded by PW2 Head Constable Om Parkash. 5. The appellant along with the case property was produced before PW3 Yad Ram SHO of Police Station who verified the fact and put his own seal bearing impression YR on the sample as well as on the remainder. Thereafter the sealed case property was handed over to the Investigating Officer who deposited the same with Malkhana. In ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed underneath the shirt and the vest of the accused wrapped in a polythene pack. On weighment it was found to be one kilogram. SI Satbir Singh took out 50grams of opium from the recovered bulk and sealed the sample and the remainder into two separate parcels with the sealed bearing inscription SS. Both the sealed parcels were taken into possession vide recovery memo EX. PB which was signed by ASI Bishamber Lal and HC Suresh Kumar and was attested by me also. 7. In his statement under Section 313 Cr. P.C. the appellant denied the prosecution allegations and pleaded innocence. After considering the material on record and rival submissions, the Special Judge, Sonipat found the appellant guilty of offence punishable under Section 18 of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the TADA Act and the Arms Act for being in possession of a country made pistol and three live cartridges. The prosecution did not examine any independent witness and simply relied upon the testimony of PW3 Investigating Officer. There was also discrepancy in the depositions of PW3 Investigating Officer and another police person namely PW2. In the light of these facts, it was observed in Megha Singh as under: After considering the facts and circumstances of the case, it appears to us that there is discrepancy in the depositions of the P.Ws.2 and 3 and in the absence of any independent corroboration such discrepancy does not inspire confidence about the reliability of the prosecution case. We have also noted another disturbing featur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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