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| Three acquitted as prosecution fails | | | Early Times Report
Jammu | Sept 17
Principal Sessions Judge Jammu Mr. JR Kotwal today acquitted Foja Singh, selection grade constable driver JKAP, Mohd Iqbal and Gul Mohammed, all residents of Kashmir valley, and facing trial for possessing 984 KG Poppy Straw, as the investigation failed to link the accused persons with the seized contraband poppy straw.
According to the prosecution case on July 11, 2003 morning, a police petrol party, headed by Incharge Police Post Sainik Colony Jammu Kuldeep Raj Gupta found a truck parked in front of a house at sector B Sainik colony. They also found the accused persons loading gunny bags from the said house in the said truck and 18 bags by that time were loaded in the truck containing contraband Poppy Straw. On enquiry by the ASI the accused persons disclosed their names and address. Accused Foja Singh, a selection Grade constable-driver in JKAP, was residing in a house which was used as a camp for running illegal business of poppy straw and some poppy straw was found inside the house. The ASI dispatched a docket for registration FIR to P/S Channi Himmat and telephonically informed SDPO. FIR 60/2003 was registered u/s 15/16 NDPS Act and SHO P/S Channi Himmat Tilak Raj Sharma took the investigation. He seized 18 bags of poppy straw from the truck and two bags from the house. He also sealed on spot sample of the material weighing 200 grams from each of the 20 gunny bags for chemical analysis. He weighed the entire poppy straw which came out as 984 Kgs. After completion of the investigation challan was presented in the Court of law against the accused persons and prosecution sought initiation of proceedings u/s 512 Cr PC against accused Showkat Ahmed s/o Abdul Salam r/o Trahal District Pulwama.
Principal Sessions Judge, after hearing both the sides, took serious note of the investigation and observed that glaring defects in the investigation of the case have left a fair scope for suspecting falsity of sampling or tampering with the samples and renders it unsafe, rather impossible to conclude that the samples dispatched to the FSL were the samples of the substance filled in the gunny bags recovered from the accused persons. In this contest, as per the prosecution case, all the samples were sealed by using a particular seal. As per the prosecution case and as stated before this Court by IO Tilak Raj Sharma, the IO had kept the seal on superdari of Baghwan Dass. However, prosecution gave up Baghwan by way of the statement of public prosecutor branding him as hostile witness, neither the prosecution could prove that after the sampling, the seal was kept in the possession of an independent person not the seal could be produced before the Court, contextually, as per the statement of Executive Magistrate the samples were produced before him for resealing on July 17, 2003, six days after their preparation and as per Rajeshwar Singh SDPO, he dispatched the samples to the FSL on July 18, 2003, after seven days they were prepared. There is nothing in the prosecution evidence to show as to where these samples were kept during this interval of seven days. SHO, who should have explained this, is silent on the point though the SDPO has stated that in the intervening period the samples remained at police post Sainik colony. It is not understandable as to why the samples would have been kept at police post as the case was being investigated by SHO P/s Channi Himmat, in any case it is not stated as to in whose possession they were kept. No record in roznamcha or malkhana register, showing the particular location of the samples for seven days has been produced by the prosecution.
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