Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985: ss. 25, 35 – Applicability of s. 25 – When – Presumption of culpable mental state u/s. 35 – When, available –On facts, truck found lying turtle and bags of powder scattered which on investigation found to be narcotic substance – Two witnesses saw the driver and the cleaner coming out of the truck and disclosed the name of the ownerappellant, and fled away – Conviction of the appellant u/s. 25 and imposition of imprisonment for 10 years by the courts below – On appeal, held: s. 25 provides that if an owner of a vehicle knowingly permits it to be used for commission of any offence punishable under the NDPS Act, he shall be punished accordingly – On facts, the witnesses turned hostile – They did not even identify the driver and the cleaner of the truck – Appellant was not with the vehicle nor he was arrested from the spot when the accident occurred or when the truck and contraband were taken into custody – His conviction was merely being the registered owner of the truck –Prosecution failed to produce any material on record to show that the vehicle, if was used for any illegal activity, was used with the knowledge and consent of the appellant – Even presumption as provided for u/s.
35 would not be available since the prosecution failed to discharge initial burden on it to prove the foundational facts – In the absence thereof, the onus would not shift on the accused– Courts below erred in shifting the onus on the appellant to prove his innocence without the foundational facts having been proved by the prosecution – Thus, the conviction of the appellant cannot be legally sustained – Judgments passed by the courts below set aside.
Bhola Singh v. State of Punjab (2011) 11 SCC 653 : [2011] 2 SCR 642 – relied on.
Balwinder Singh v. Asstt. Commr., Customs and Central Excise (2005) 4 SCC 146; State by Inspector of Police, Narcotic Intelligence Bureau, Madurai, Tamil Nadu v. Rajangam (2010) 15 SCC 369; Gangadhar alias
Gangaram v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2020) 9 SCC
202 – referred to.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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