Law: Drugs Act, 1976

Section: 27

Drugs Act (XXXI of 1976)--- ----S. 27(1)(a)---Appreciation of evidence---Charge against accused was two fold; one that the drug recovered by the Drug Inspector from him was not registered and the other that it was spurious---Prosecution had not produced the concerned Authority of the Federal Government alongwith the record to prove non-registration of the drug---Sampel taken into possession from the shop of the accused was also not sent to Public Analyst for analysis nor any public analyst was examined in Court-=-Sample having been sent to Quality Control Board for analysis four years after the recovery, no credence at all could .be attached to its report which was not even proved---Spuriousness of the drug, therefore, was also not proved on record---Accused was acquitted accordingly. Iqbal Ahmad Durrani for Appellant. Saulat Hussain, D.A.G. for the State. Date of hearing: 26th June, 1995. JUDGMENT The learned Chairman and Members of the Drugs Court N.-W.F.P., Peshawar through their judgment, dated 14-2-1995 found Muhammad Ayub son of Muqaddar Shah appellant guilty under section 27(1)(a) of the Drugs Act, 1976 and sentenced him to imprisonment for three years and a fine of Rs.10,000 on account of selling spurious and unregistered drug named voltaren, 4 strips (40 Tablets) whereof were recovered by Mr. Sabir Ali, Divisional Drug Inspector. He has come up in appeal. The charge is two-fold. One, that the drug is not registered and the other that it was spurious. Apparently the drug is manufactured at Karachi under licence from C.I.B.A. Geigy of Switzerland. It was bound to be registered with the Federal Government for which the authority concerned could have been easily produced alongwith registers thereof to prove whether or not the drug has been registered under the patent name of Voltaren. No such officer concerned of the Federal Government alongwith registers was produced by the prosecution to prove that the drug was not registered. This was despite the fact that this drug is generally available in the market under the same Trade name and   with name of the Company under licence whereof it is manufactured at Karachi. The factum of non-registration is not…