THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO CRIMINAL APPEAL No.1449 of 2007 04-09-2014 BETWEEN:
Amber Singh …..Appellant/Accused AND The State of A.P., rep. by Public Prosecutor, High Court of A.P., Hyderabad.
…..Respondent THIS COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING JUDGMENT:
THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO CRIMINAL APPEAL No.1449 of 2007 JUDGMENT:
The Criminal Appeal is preferred by the appellant/accused challenging the Judgment, dated 23.10.2007, in NDPS SC. No.76 of 2003 passed by the Hon’ble I Additional Sessions Judge, Nizamabad, whereby the learned Judge found the appellant/accused guilty for the offence under Sections 8(b) and 20(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and convicted and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees five thousand only), in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three months.
The case of the prosecution is as follows:-
That on 20.02.2003, on reliable information about cultivation of ganja by the accused in his lands, P.W.1, Assistant Sub Inspector of Police, along with his staff, and P.W.2, the Panchayat Secretary and P.Ws.3 and 4, who acted as mediators, went to the land of the accused and found 34,000 ganja plants. He collected some leaves and sent the same for chemical examination, and in that chemical examination, it was found that the plants are ganja plants. After completion of the investigation, the police filed charge sheet against the accused for the offence under Section 20(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).
To prove the guilt of the accused, P.Ws.1 to 8 were examined and Exs.P.1 to P.9 were marked on behalf of the prosecution. No oral or documentary evidence was adduced on behalf of the accused.
On appreciation of oral and documentary evidence, the trial Court found the appellant/accused guilty for the offence under Section 8(b) and Section 20(a) of the NDPS Act and convicted and sentenced him as stated above.
Heard and perused the record.
After evaluating and examining the material available on record and considering the respective submissions of the learned counsel, this Court is of the view that there are no special or adequate reasons, warranting interference by this Court with the Judgment passed by the trial Court.
At this stage, the learned counsel for the appellant/accused confines his argument with regard to quantum of sentence and submits that the accused is the only breadwinner in his family and he has to lookafter his wife, children, and as such, he prays this Court to show leniency while imposing sentence of imprisonment.
Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellant/accused and the nature of offence, and also in view of long lapse of time, this Court is inclined to take a lenient view.
In the result, the conviction recorded by the trial Court against the appellant/accused herein for the offence Section 8(b) and Section 20(a) of the NDPS Act is hereby confirmed. However, this Court, taking a lenient view, modifies and reduces the sentence of imprisonment to the period, which the appellant/accused has already undergone.
Accordingly, the Criminal Appeal is partly allowed. Consequently, the miscellaneous petitions, if any pending in this appeal, shall stand closed.
JUSTICE RAJA ELANGO 04.09.2014 pln