Law: Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997

Section: XXV,9(c)

(a) Control of Narcotic Substances Act (XXV of 1997)-------S. 9(c)---Possession of narcotic substances---Appreciation of evidence--Contradictions in the statement of witnesses---Accused was charged for having possession of 2300 grams charas---Prosecution in order to establish the charge had produced the evidence of four witnesses, who had contradicted each other on material counts---One witness said that the recovery was made in sunlight whereas, another witness said, it was the night which would always lead to the benefit of defence, however, the variance of the testimony of witnesses or inconsistencies on the subject points led to such conclusion, which were material in nature and introduced or suggested a different version to the prosecution case---Major discrepancies in the instant case were of such nature, which could bring the case within the exceptions as the prosecution was duty bound to establish its case independently without any shadow of a doubt--Appeal against conviction was allowed, in circumstances.Sarfaraz alias Sappi v. The State 2000 SCMR 1758 rel.(b) Control of Narcotic Substances Act (XXV of 1997)-------S. 9(c)---Possession of narcotic substances---Appreciation of evidence--Discrepancies---Accused was charged for having possession of 2300 grams charas---In the casesunder Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, the prosecution must establish every step from the step of recovery, making of the sample parcel, safe custody of sample for transfer and safe transmission of the sample to the concerned laboratory---Said chain has to be established by the prosecution---If any link is missing, the benefit of the same has to be extended to the accused---However, in the present case, such chain was not in alignment--Complainant testified that private witnesses were available at the time of the arrest but were not cited as witnesses to the crime---Said witness admitted inconsistencies in the evidence, such as the missing weight of the property and the lack of a register number in the Qaimi entry---Additionally, complainant acknowledged that he prepared crucial documents under sub-optimal lighting conditions---Recovery witness contradicted the claim of…