Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Aug 10
A Special Court in Srinagar has acquitted two men in a 2022 narcotics case after finding that the prosecution failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged contraband was in their conscious and exclusive possession.
Special Judge for NDPS Cases Vinod Kumar acquitted Shahnawaz Qadir Ganie and Muhammad Ayoub Sofi of Hyderpora of charges under Sections 8/20, 21 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
The case arose from FIR No. 207/2022 registered at Police Station Budgam after police allegedly recovered 65 grams of charas, 15 bottles containing a codeine-based medicinal preparation and Rs 1.39 lakh in cash during a search of a house in Hyderpora.
The prosecution subsequently relied on a forensic science laboratory report which identified charas in the sampled substance and detected Codeine Phosphate and Chlorpheniramine Maleate in the sampled liquid.
The court, however, found material discrepancies in the prosecution’s account of the recovery and possession of the alleged contraband.
An Executive Magistrate who supervised the search stated during cross-examination that the contraband had been recovered from the house rather than directly from the accused. The magistrate also said he could not explain why the two men had been booked in the case.
The court said this account was inconsistent with the prosecution’s version concerning possession.
The judge also noted that the house was occupied by several members of a family and that one of the accused did not reside there.
The alleged contraband had been recovered from different locations within a room rather than directly from the accused, the court observed, making it difficult to establish that either man had exclusive and conscious possession of the substances.
The court also examined discrepancies relating to the weighing of the alleged charas.
Witnesses gave differing accounts about where the substance was weighed, the weighing equipment used and the circumstances in which the weighing was conducted.
The judge found that these inconsistencies went beyond minor or peripheral variations and involved material aspects of the alleged recovery.
Given the gaps in the prosecution case, the court extended the benefit of doubt to both accused and acquitted them.
The defence was represented by advocates Mir Urfi, Waheed Dar, Zia-ul-Rehan, Anil Raina, Aqib Farooq, and Bushra.
The acquittal underscores the prosecution’s burden in narcotics cases to establish the required elements of possession and link the accused to the alleged contraband through evidence sufficient to meet the criminal standard of proof.
