Himachal Pradesh High Court
State Of H.P vs Ranjit Singh & Another on 7 December, 2015
Author: Rajiv Sharma
Bench: Rajiv Sharma, P.S.Rana
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA.
Cr.M.P.(M) No. 1230 of 2015.
And
Cr. Appeal No.522 of 2015.
.
Decided on: December 07, 2015.
State of H.P. ......Appellant.
Versus
Ranjit Singh & another .......Respondents.
of
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Sharma, Judge.
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice P.S.Rana, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting? 1
rt Yes.
For the appellant: Mr. V.S.Chauhan, Addl. AG with Mr. Neeraj K. Sharma,
Dy. AG.
For the respondents: Nemo.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice Rajiv Sharma, J.
Cr.M.P.(M) No. 1230 of 2015.
Leave to appeal is granted. The application is disposed of.
The appeal be registered.
Cr. Appeal No. 522 of 2015.
This appeal has been instituted at the instance of the State against the judgment dated 5.5.2015, rendered by the learned Special Judge, Kullu, H.P. in Sessions Trial No. 114 of 2013 (286 of 2013), whereby the respondents-accused were charged with and tried for offences punishable under Sections 20 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the ND & PS Act) and under Sections 181 and 196 of the M.V.Act. Respondent-
1Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 19:26:58 :::HCHP 2accused Govind was acquitted of the offence under Section 20 of the ND & PS Act, 1985. Accused Ranjit Singh, who was already declared as .
Proclaimed Offender, it was ordered that if he was apprehended, the trial against him would commence. The case property was ordered to be retained in the safe custody of the Police Station Sadar, Kullu.
2. The case of the prosecution, in a nut shell, is that on 13.4.2013, the police party headed by Sh. Raman Kumar Meena, IPS of (Probationer), officiating as SHO, PS Sadar, Distt. Kullu, had laid Naka at Chilla Mod. PSI Sunil, PSI Ankur Sharma, ASI Mohan Lal and Const.
rt Ramesh were the other members of the Naka party. At about 8:20 PM, a motor cycle bearing number HP-33A-6859 came from Manikaran side. It was signaled to stop. Two persons were occupying the motorcycle.
During search of bag of accused Ranjit Singh, one taped packet containing charas wrapped in plastic wrappers was found. It weighed 1.537 kg. The recovered stuff alongwith wrappers was put into the same bag. It was sealed with cloth parcel sealed with six seals of impression "T". The carry bag of accused Govind was also searched and three taped packets, two of them were containing chocolate shaped and third one with ball shaped charas. It weighed 1.501 kg. The sealing proceedings were completed on the spot. The I.O. prepared rukka and sent to the Police Station Sadar through PSI Ankur Sharma for registration of FIR.
On the basis of the rukka, FIR was registered. The case property was deposited with MHC, Police Station, Sadar, Distt. Kullu. He sent the ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 19:26:58 :::HCHP 3 same to FSL, Junga, for chemical examination. The investigation was completed and challan was put up before the Court after completing all .
the codal formalities.
3. The prosecution has examined as many as 8 witnesses to prove its case. The accused were also examined under Section 313 Cr.P.C to which they pleaded not guilty. The accused have also examined DW-1 Moti Ram, Up-Pradhan of Gram Panchayat Punthal in of their defence. The learned Trial Court acquitted the accused Govind on 5.5.2015. Hence, the present appeal.
4. rt Mr. V.S.Chauhan, learned Addl. Advocate General, appearing for the State has vehemently argued that the prosecution has proved its case against the accused.
5. We have gone through the impugned judgment and records of the case carefully.
6. The case of the prosecution is that at about 8:30 PM the accused were intercepted by the police when they were coming towards Bhuntar from Manikaran side. Their bags were searched. It contained charas. The search, sampling and sealing proceedings were completed on the spot. Rukka was sent to the Police Station, on the basis of which FIR was registered.
7. According to the statement of PW-8 I.O. Raman Kumar Meena, the police party left the Police Station, Sadar, at 2:45 PM. They went to Akhara bazaar and then to Dhalpur College. After staying for ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 19:26:58 :::HCHP 4 about three hours in Dhalpur College area, the police party went to Gammon Bridge and remained there for one hour. They conducted .
traffic checking at Dhalpur as well as Gammon Bridge area. PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma has testified that the police party has left the Police Station at 7:30 PM. They went straight to Chilla mod. No traffic checking was conducted in between. Thus, there is variance in the statements of PW-8 I.O. Raman Kumar Meena and PW-1 PSI Ankur of Sharma. According to PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma, the police party left the Police Station at 7:30 PM but according to PW-8 I.O. Raman Kumar rt Meena, they left the Police Station at 2:45 PM.
8. PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma testified that he took the rukka Ext. PW-8/A to the Police Station, Sadar in the official vehicle for registration of FIR. He handed over the same to MHC of the Police Station, who recorded FIR. However, by then, he had already sent the vehicle back to the spot and had no means to return to the spot with police file. He remained in the Police Station, Sadar, and when PW-8 I.O. Raman Kumar Meena returned, he gave police file to him. The sum and substance of the statement of PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma is that he did not come back to the spot with the police file. However, PW-8 I.O.
Raman Kumar Meena, in his cross-examination, testified that PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma was sent at 11:15 PM with rukka and he returned with police file at around 12:00 in the mid night. Thereafter, the sealing proceedings were completed. According to PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma, the ::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 19:26:58 :::HCHP 5 case property was packed and sealed before sending rukka PW-8/A to the Police Station. However, PW-8 I.O. Raman Kumar Meena has .
deposed that the case property was packed after return of PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma at 12:00 mid night. There are major contradictions in the statements of PW-1 PSI Ankur Sharma and PW-8 I.O. Raman Kumar Meena, the manner in which the accused were intercepted, search, sealing and sampling proceedings were completed on the spot.
of
9. Accordingly, there is no merit in this appeal and the same is dismissed.
rt ( Rajiv Sharma ),
Judge.
December 07, 2015, ( P.S.Rana ),
(karan) Judge.
::: Downloaded on - 15/04/2017 19:26:58 :::HCHP