Punjab and Haryana High Court sets aside 14-year jail term for 2 in drugs case

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 7

Amid claims by the state agencies of having made efforts to bring drug peddlers to book, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted two persons accused in three-year-old appeals. It observed that contradictory statements by officials spearheading the prosecution had caused a “fatal blow” to the case. The matter involved the alleged recovery of 2 kg of narcotics from the accused.

The accused were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 14 years and a fine of Rs 1,50,000 by Judge, Special Court, Amritsar, in a case registered in October 2013 under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and other Psychotropic Substances Act and the IPC.

As their appeals came up for hearing before the Bench of Justice Ajay Tewari and Justice Pankaj Jain, counsel Vijay K Jindal and Vipul Jindal referred to the statements of the official witnesses — the investigating officers and the then ACP, North, Amritsar. Jindal submitted that the discrepancies in the statements by the two “material witnesses” completely belied the recoveries and could not be relied upon.

“Having given our careful consideration to the statements made by the officials, we find that the discrepancies cannot be ignored. Both witnesses are officials, who were spearheading the prosecution. Each one of them is specific in his own version. However, when both statements are juxtaposed, one belies the other. Oral evidence needs to inspire confidence in the mind of the court. Trustworthiness is the test. Contradictory statements made by the prosecution witnesses have caused a fatal blow to the case of the prosecution. It, in fact, discredits the version of the prosecution,” the Bench asserted.

The Bench added that the prosecution had failed to establish that the contrabands were “really recovered” from the possession of the appellants. “Consequently, the appeals are accepted and the appellants stand acquitted as the recoveries in the present case are found to be doubtful,” the Bench concluded.

Contradictory statements

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted two persons accused in three-year-old appeals after observing that contradictory statements by officials spearheading the prosecution caused a “fatal blow” to the case.

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