IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE V.K.MOHANAN FRIDAY, THE 8TH JULY 2011 / 17TH ASHADHA 1933 CRL.A.No. 1568 of 2003 -------------------------------- (AGAINST JUDGMENT IN SC.84/2003 of COURT OF THE SPECIAL JUDGE (NDPS ACT CASES) VADAKARA) .................... APPELLANT(S)/2ND ACCUSED: --------------------- N.C.MODEEN KOYA, S/O.MAMMU, NALAKATH CHERIKKAL HOUSE, ELATHUR, KOZHIKODE DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.P.M.MOHAMED ALI SRI.MAT.PAI RESPONDENT(S)/COMPLAINANT: ------------------------ STATE OF KERALA, REPRESETED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM. (CRIME NO.187/97 OF KOZHIKODE TOWN POLICE STATION) BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI.P.A.SALIM. THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 08/07/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: V.K.MOHANAN, J. ---------------------------------------- Crl.A.No. 1568 of 2003 ---------------------------------------- Dated this the 8th day of July, 2011 J U D G M E N T The above appeal is preferred by the second accused in S.C.No.84 of 2003 of the court of the Special Judge (NDPS Act Cases), Vadakara in which he challenges his conviction and sentence under Section 21(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act,2001 ( hereinafter referred to for short as 'the N.D.P.S.Act'). 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 9.8.1997 at 8.30 a.m. at Pallikkandi Road, the accused were found, in a maruti van bearing Regn.No.KL-13-A-4847, in possession of brown sugar and thereby, they have committed the offence punishable under Section 21(b) of the NDPS Act. With the above allegation, Crime No.187 of 1997 of the Kozhikode Town Police Station was registered for the offence punishable under Section 21(b) read with Section 29 of the N.D.P.S.Act. On completing the investigation, the Circle Inspector of Police, Kozhikode Town laid the charge before the trial court. Originally, the case was taken on file as CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-2-: S.C.No.9 of 1997 against all the accused including the appellant. But, when summons issued, only the second and fifth accused entered appearance and therefore, the case was split up against others and the case against them was re-numbered as S.C. No.119 of 1999. Subsequently, the appellant/accused was absconded and hence, the case against him was split up and and re-numbered as S.C.No.56 of 2000 and the case was transferred to the Long Pending Register as L.P Case.No.3/2000. On the subsequent arrest of the appellant/second accused, the case against him was refiled and taken on file as SC No.84 of 2003. 3. Thus, on his production, a charge was framed for the offence punishable under Section 21(b) read with Section 29 of the N.D.P.S. Act, which was read over and explained to him and he pleaded not guilty consequent to which the prosecution adduced its evidence consisting of the oral testimony of Pws.1 to 4 and Exts.P1 to P11. Besides that, Mos.1 to 3 were also identified and marked. On conclusion of the prosecution evidence, the accused was questioned under Section 313 of Cr.P.C. and he denied the incriminating circumstances, that arose out of the prosecution evidence, which were put to the accused. According to the accused, on CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-3-: 7.8.1997 at 10 a.m. he was taken to the Police Station from his house and he was implicated in the crime due to political animosity since he is a congress party worker and because of the change of Ministry. Thus, he adopted a stand of total denial. From the side of the defence, DW1 was examined and Ext.D1 was also marked. Finally, the learned Sessions Judge, on the basis of the available evidence and materials, found that the appellant/second accused is guilty under Section 21(b) of the NDPS Act, but found that he is not guilty under Section 29 of the NDPS Act. On such conviction, the learned Sessions Judge sentenced the appellant/second accused to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years and to pay fine of `.40,000/- and the default sentence is fixed as one year simple imprisonment. Set off was allowed under Section 428 of Cr.P.C. It is the above conviction and sentence challenged in this appeal. 4. I have heard Sri. M.A.T.Pai, learned counsel appearing for the appellant and Sri. P.A.Salim, learned Public Prosecutor for the State. 5. At the outset, it is to be noted that the appellant/second accused has already undergone the substantial period of imprisonment as well as the imprisonment as per the default clause. The prosecution case is that CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-4-: the Circle Inspector of Police, Kozhikode Town viz., PW1 received information with regard to the transportation of brown sugar in a Maruti van bearing Regn.No.KL-13A-4847 along the beach road and in pursuance of that information, he arrested the accused and they were questioned. PW1 deposed before the court regarding the details of the entire events that had taken place on 9.8.1997. Exts.P1 to P7 were proved through PW1. PW2 was the S.I. of Police, who was one of the members of the riding party and he had also deposed that PW1 had conducted the search and seizure in this case and arrested the accused. He had deposed regarding the details with respect to the recovery and seizure of brown sugar from all the accused and also the recovery of `.37,000/- from the suit case found in the car. PW3 is an independent witness to the search and seizure and signatory to Exts.P3 and P4 mahazars. PW3 also deposed in favour of the prosecution particularly with respect to the compliance of Section 50 and the procedure followed by Pws.1 and 2 during the search and seizure. He had deposed before the court regarding the seizure of contraband article and the money from the accused. PW4 is the then Circle Inspector of Police, Cheruvannur, who conducted the investigation CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-5-: and he completed the same and finally preferred the report. Exts.P8 to P11 were marked through PW4. 6. Reiterating the contentions raised by the appellant before the trial court, Sri.M.A.T.Pai, learned counsel for the appellant vehemently submitted that the prosecution has miserably failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt since no independent witness was examined to prove the alleged possession of brown sugar. According to the learned counsel, in order to canvass the conviction, the learned Sessions Judge simply believed the version of official witnesses viz., Pws.1,2 and 4 and the learned Sessions Judge, ignored the undue interest of the witnesses in convicting the appellant. According to the learned counsel, the prosecution agency failed in following the mandatory provision contained in Section 50 of the NDPS Act and the learned Sessions Judge has also failed in noting down the non-compliance of Section 50 of the NDPS Act. It is also the contention of the learned counsel that the trial court failed to consider the fact there was no allegation of involvement of the appellant/second accused in Ext.D1 charge sheet. According to the learned counsel, there was no proper investigation so as to find out the CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-6-: ownership of the maruti van from which the alleged contraband articles were seized. According to the learned counsel, the only independent witness i.e. PW3 is a stock witness of the prosecution and therefore, no value can be given for the deposition of PW3. It is also the submission of the learned counsel that in the matter of recovery and search, the mandatory provisions that contained in the NDPS Act are violated and therefore, no conviction can be made on such illegal recovery and search. It is also the submission of the learned counsel that the appellant/accused was not given reasonable opportunity to defend the case since no proper charge sheet was furnished to them and the entire case was registered against the appellant due to political animosity. 7. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor, stoutly opposing the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the appellant, submitted that the materials and evidence on record would show that the recovery was effected based upon the reliable information received by PW1 and such recovery was proved by the documentary evidence and the same are supported by the evidence of official witnesses which is corroborated by independent evidence. According to the learned Public CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-7-: Prosecutor, the allegation against the appellant as well as the other accused is a serious one and the seizure is proved beyond reasonable doubt and therefore, the trial court is perfectly justified in convicting the appellant for the offence under Section 21(b) of the NDPS Act and as such, no interference is warranted. 8. I have carefully considered the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the appellant as well as the learned Public Prosecutor and I have gone through the evidence and materials on record. 9. In order to substantiate the prosecution case against the appellant and other accused, the prosecution mainly depends upon the evidence of Pws.1 and 2 who are the Police Officials who conducted the seizure. The prosecution further relies upon the evidence of PW3, an independent witness, who was present at the time of seizure and was also a signatory to the mahazar connected with the seizure of contraband article and other items. When PW1 was examined, he had categorically deposed before the court that at about 8 a.m. on 9.8.1997, he had received a telephonic information at his residence regarding the transportation of brown sugar and he had also got information regarding the vehicle also, which is used CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-8-: for the transportation of contraband article. According to PW1, on receiving such information, he rushed to the Police Station and reduced into writing the information and sent Ext.P1 report under Section 42(2) of the N.D.P.S.Act. Thereafter, according to PW1, he along with PW2 and police party proceeded to Beach Road in two police jeeps and according to him, they reached at 8.30 a.m.and PW1 directed PW2 to park his jeep on the north of the beach road and to intercept the maruti van. According to PW1, PW2 gave wireless message to him informing him that the maruti van involved in this case was coming and pursuant to that information, PW1 took his jeep and put across the same in the beach road and intercepted the maruti van. According to PW1, the appellant and other accused were present in the maruti van and he questioned them and recorded their statement. According to PW1, he disclosed his identity to the first accused and on suspicion of possession of brown sugar, PW1 informed the first accused about his right to search the person of first accused and other accused and he had also conveyed the right of the accused to be searched in the presence of the Magistrate or Gazetted Officer as contemplated under Section 50 of the N.D.P.S.Act. Thus, the CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-9-: above proceedings were repeated with respect to all other accused. Ext.P2 is the letter given by the accused granting consent for the same. Thereafter, the body of the accused was searched in the presence of the independent witnesses which resulted in the recovery of one plastic packet concealed inside the socks worn by the first accused and 20 gms. of brown sugar is recovered from the first accused. According to PW1, he had drawn one sample weighing 3 gms. and packed and tied with twine and sealed and obtained the signature of the accused and witnesses on the label affixed on the packet. PW1 had also affixed his signature on the sample packet. The sample packet was marked as S2. The remnants of the sample received have been sent for chemical examination, is marked as MO1. The remaining quantity after sampling is identified as MO2. The socks in which the accused concealed brown sugar was also similarly packed and sealed and obtained the signature of the accused. MO3 is the packet containing socks. Thus, thereafter, the accused was arrested at 9.50 a.m on the spot. PW1 recorded the entire proceedings by mahazar which is marked as Ext.P3. All the proceedings that are adopted by PW1 with respect to seizure from first accused was repeated with respect to the other CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-10-: accused and thus, PW1 recovered brown sugar from accused No.3 also. From the maruti van, he had also recovered currency of Rs.37,000/- Ext.P4 is with respect to the seizure of vehicle prepared by PW1. Both Exts.P3 and P4 are signed by PW3, the independent witness. Thereafter, PW1 returned to the Police Station along with the accused. After the search and registration of the crime, PW1 gave a report to he Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kozhikode as contemplated by Section 57 which is marked as Ext.P6. Ext.P7 is the certified copy of the property list. 10. Though PW1 was subjected to lengthy cross-examination, nothing elicited from him to disbelieve his version. Though several suggestions were put to PW1, during his cross-examination, the answers given to such suggestions further reinforced the prosecution case as such and the suggestive question or the materials brought by the defence through cross-examination are not sufficient to defend the prosecution case. As I indicated earlier, PW2 is also one of the members of the riding party and he had also deposed in terms of the prosecution case. He had categorically stated the steps taken by PW1 towards the body search of the accused. When PW2 was examined and during his cross-examination, he CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-11-: had deposed that the accused persons were searched one by one and the arrest of the accused was effected only when he was found in possession of brown sugar. PW2 also denied the suggestion that some of the accused were persons arrested prior to 9.8.1987 from 'Hotel Tower' and 'Hotel Aradhana' in Kozhikode. The specific suggestion put to PW2 that the appellant/accused was arrested from his house at Elathur is also denied by PW2 and he had stated that the accused was arrested by PW1 on 9.8.1997 on the spot. The suggestion put to PW2 that Ext.P2 consent was obtained after manhandling the accused, is flatly denied by him. 11. One of the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the appellant is that the prosecution mainly depends upon the official witnesses to establish its case and the evidence of those witnesses is not supported from any independent source. The above submission, according to me, is not sustainable in the light of the evidence of PW3 who was a signatory to the seizure mahazar and also a witness for the entire proceedings adopted by PW1 on 9.8.1997 connected with the arrest, search and seizure. Though PW3 is also subjected to lengthy cross-examination, his evidence remained in tact and without deviation from the prosecution CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-12-: case, he had deposed every details connected with the search, seizure and arrest. PW3 denied the suggestion that he was not questioned by the Police. He had also deposed that when the body of the accused was searched, the other accused were outside the jeep. He had also denied the suggestion that he had visited the Police Station. As I pointed out earlier though PW3 was subjected to lengthy and detailed cross-examination, nothing was elicited from him to disbelieve his version. PW4 is the Circle Inspector of Police, who subsequently undertook the investigation and finally filed the report. He has also deposed in terms of the prosecution case. When he was testified regarding the date of production of the contraband article, he had deposed before the court that the properties were produced before the court in the night of the same day and subsequently, as directed by the court, PW1 produced the same on the next day. He had also deposed before the court that he had questioned the witnesses on 10.8.1997 and denied the suggestion that the witnesses were questioned on 10.9.1997. He had explained that the date shown in the 161 statement of the witnesses is due to the clerical mistake. 12. Thus, going through the evidence and the materials on record, I CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-13-: am of the view that the learned Sessions Judge is perfectly justified in his finding that the prosecution has succeeded in establishing the case against the accused. It is true that the main evidence relied on by the prosecution is that of PW1 and PW2 who are the Police Officials. The very fact that PWs.1 and 2 are Police Officials, is not sufficient to render their evidence as unbelievable. There is no rule to the effect that unless there are corroborating evidence from independent source, the evidence of official witnesses cannot be believed. Of course while appreciating the evidence of official witnesses, the same requires scrutiny as in the case of any other witnesses. If there is serious error or contradiction in the evidence of official witnesses, of course, the rule of prudence requires that if such contradictions or mistakes are sufficient to go against the very route of the prosecution, such evidence of the official witnesses required corroboration from independent source. But, in the present case, from the discussions of the learned single Judge, which I refer to above, it can be seen that with respect to the official witnesses particularly, PWs.1 and 2 who are the persons involved in the search, seizure and arrest of the accused, nothing is brought on record to discredit their version. Besides the above, in the CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-14-: present case, the prosecution has cited PW3 who is an independent witness and his evidence also supports the evidence of PWs.1 and 2. Though PW3 was subjected to lengthy cross-examination, his evidence remained in tact fully corroborating the evidence of PWs.1 and 2. Therefore, it cannot be said that in the present case, there is absolutely no independent evidence to corroborate the evidence of PWs.1 and 2. 13. It is also relevant to note that it is borne out from records that the seizure was effected in pursuance of an information received by PW1, which he reduced into writing and the same was communicated to his superior officer as contemplated under Section 42(2) of the N.D.P.S.Act. In pursuance of the receipt of information , himself and PW2 went to the spot and inspected the maruti van in which the accused were travelling and in this juncture, it is relevant to note that in the information itself, the registration number of the maruti van was given. It is further relevant to note that the arrest, search and recovery etc. are properly recorded in the mahazar which is a contemporary document and the same are proved through the official witnesses supported by the evidence of PW3 the independent witness. Therefore, all the contentions raised by the defence CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-15-: against the search, seizure and arrest fail. In the result, I find no reason to interfere with the order of conviction recorded by the trial court. The sentence imposed against the petitioner appears to be unreasonable and the same is not exorbitant or excess and there is no scope to interfere with sentence as well. There is no merit in the appeal and accordingly, the same is dismissed. V.K.MOHANAN, Judge MBS/ CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-16-: V.K.MOHANAN, J. CRL.R.P.No. 69 OF 2001 ORDER Dated:23.6.2011 CRL.A.NO.1568 of 2003 :-17-: