Law: Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997

Section: 6, 8, 9(a), 9(c)

Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

Section: 382-B

 Summary

The appellant was convicted under Section 9(c) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 for allegedly possessing 580 grams of heroin recovered from 99 capsules extracted from his abdomen and was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 300,000/-.

On appeal, the High Court found that although 99 capsules were recovered, the Investigating Officer mixed (amalgamated) the contents of all capsules into one bulk quantity before sending a single 10-gram sample to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Since only 10 grams were chemically tested and confirmed to be heroin, the prosecution failed to prove that the remaining quantity also contained heroin. The Court further observed that the heroin had been weighed together with the sack, making the net weight uncertain.

Applying the settled law laid down by the Supreme Court, the Court held that only the quantity represented by the tested sample could be considered for conviction. Consequently, while maintaining the appellant's conviction, the Court altered the conviction from Section 9(c) to Section 9(a) CNS Act and reduced the sentence from 10 years to 18 months' imprisonment, considering that the appellant was only 18 years old and a first-time offender.