Recovery From Premises Not In NDPS Accused's Possession Can't Be Attributed To Him Without Independent Witnesses: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has ruled that recovery of a contraband cannot be attributed to an accused under the NDPS Act without any proof of possession or independent witnesses.
“A recovery from a place where the possession of accused is not proved cannot be attributed to be a recovery from him. Moreover, no independent public witnesses were associated at the time of recovery to corroborate the authenticity of recovery,” Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said.
The Court made the observations while upholding the acquittal of three men for the offences under sections 21(c), 25(A) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substance Act.
The prosecution had challenged their acquittal on the grounds that the trial court order was based on presumptions, conjectures, and surmises, where wrong conclusions were drawn from the factual matrix.
It was contended that the trial court had wrongly held the recoveries to be doubtful despite the consistent testimonies of the recovery witnesses.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court observed that an order of acquittal can be reversed only if the findings of the trial court are found to be perverse, contrary to the evidence on record, or based on an erroneous interpretation of the law.
It added that the presumption of innocence is further strengthened by an acquittal, which should not be easily interfered unless there are cogent reasons.
Justice Bansal observed that the contradictions highlighted by the Trial Court were not minor, but were infirmities that created a reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the very initiation of the investigation.
“The trial court rightly noted that “an initial burden exists upon the prosecution and only when it stands satisfied then the legal burden would shift”. In the instant case, the Prosecution has hasn‟t satisfactorily discharged this burden and thus, the same cannot be presumed against the Accused persons,” the Court said.
Title: STATE OF NCT OF DELHI v. TAUHID KHAN @ SHAHID @ LAMBA & ORS