Srinagar, Aug 10: A court here has acquitted two persons in a case registered against them under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Budgam in 2022.
The Special Judge (NDPS Cases) Srinagar, Vinod Kumar, acquitted Shahnawaz Qadir Ganie, and Muhammad Ayoub Sofi of Hyderpora after holding that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged contraband was recovered from their conscious and exclusive possession.
The court acquitted the duo of offences under sections 8/20, 21 and 29 of the NDPS Act.
According to the prosecution, the case (FIR No 207/2022) was registered at Police Station Budgam after police recovered 65 grams of charas, 15 bottles containing codeine-based medicinal preparation and Rs 1.39 lakh in cash during a search of a house at Hyderpora.
Subsequently, the prosecution relied upon an FSL report which detected charas in the sampled substance and Codeine Phosphate and Chlorpheniramine Maleate in the sampled liquid.
In its decision, the court noted the serious discrepancies concerning the alleged recovery and possession of the contraband. The Executive Magistrate who supervised the search had stated during cross-examination the contraband was recovered from the house and not from the accused, and that he could not say why the two persons were booked in the case.
This directly contradicted the prosecution version regarding possession, the court said.
Moreover, the court observed that the house was occupied by several family members and that one of the accused did not reside there.
The alleged contraband, it said, was also found at different locations within the room rather than in the direct possession of the accused, making it difficult to draw an inference of exclusive conscious possession.
The court also pointed to discrepancies regarding the weighing of the alleged charas. Witnesses gave different accounts about the place where the substance was weighed, the weighing instrument used and the circumstances of the weighment.
These, the court said, were not merely peripheral variations but concerned material aspects of the alleged recovery.
Consequently, the court extended the benefit of doubt to both accused and acquitted them of the charges.
Advocates Mir Urfi, Waheed Dar, Zia-ul-Rehan, Anil Raina, Aqib Farooq, and Bushra represented the accused.
