A special court sentenced a 29-year old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of 1 lakh for possessing 5 kg of charas, a commercial quantity under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Special judge Raman Goklaney convicted Mukesh Kumar alias Anku under Section 20(ii)(C) of the NDPS Act (possession of cannabis in commercial quantity) in connection with a case registered at Sector 34 police station. The judgment and order on sentence were pronounced on October 3.

According to the prosecution, a police team was conducting checks near the T-point at Piccadilly Square Mall, Sector 34, on the night of May 23, 2021. Around 10.35 pm, the team spotted Mukesh, who allegedly turned back on seeing the police and attempted to throw away the backpack he was carrying.

The police intercepted him and recovered 5 kg of charas from the backpack. The substance was seized and sealed at the spot before being sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Sector 36, where it was confirmed to be charas/cannabis.

The defence questioned the recovery, arguing that no independent public witness had been joined and that there were discrepancies in the statements of police witnesses. It also pointed to the non-examination of senior constable Manwinder Singh, who had carried the ruqa for registration of the FIR, and raised questions over the handing over of the police seal.

The defence further argued that the presence of the FIR number on the initial recovery documents suggested that they had been prepared later at the police station.

Rejecting the arguments, the court held that the prosecution had established the recovery and conscious possession of the contraband beyond reasonable doubt. It noted that the seized parcel was sealed at the spot, counter-sealed by the SHO, deposited in the malkhana and subsequently produced before the judicial magistrate. Representative samples were drawn and resealed with the court seal before being sent to CFSL, where the seal was found intact and tallying with the specimen seal.

The court observed that the investigation lapses pointed out by the defence, including the absence of independent witnesses, lack of a formal seal-entrustment memo, minor timeline discrepancies and insertion of FIR particulars on the recovery documents, did not, individually or collectively, create reasonable doubt regarding the recovery, conscious possession, identity of the contraband or continuity of custody.

It further held that once possession of the contraband was established, the statutory presumptions under Sections 35 and 54 of the NDPS Act operated against the accused. The court noted that Mukesh had not led evidence or offered a plausible explanation sufficient to rebut the presumptions.

It concluded that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that 5 kg of charas, a commercial quantity, was recovered from Mukesh’s conscious possession and that the chain of custody from the spot to CFSL was unbroken.

The court, while sentencing him, took into account the commercial quantity of the contraband and the impact of narcotic drugs on society. Mukesh was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh. In default of payment, he will undergo an additional one year of simple imprisonment.

The conviction comes less than a month after another Chandigarh NDPS case in which, on September 18, two men were convicted for carrying 16 kg of charas and sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment. The sentences in the two cases were based on the respective quantities of contraband and the circumstances considered by the courts.