Criminal Appeal No. 449 of 1997 · Himachal Pradesh High Court

Mr. respondent/accused. Thakur, Advocate Accused has been produced by constable Latif Mohammad No. 289 under the supervision of ASI Jagdish Chand. Vide judgment dated September 30, 2010 the accused was convicted for having committed an offence punishable under Section 20 (ii) (B) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. However, if the resin content is taken into consideration then the accused was found guilty of being in conscious possession of 413 grams of charas. We have heard accused and his learned counsel on the quantum of sentence. Mr. N.K. Thakur, Advocate learned counsel for the accused contended that the accused at the relevant time was a young man aged about 21/22 years. During this period he has married and has three children. He therefore has a wife and 3 minor children of 6,4 and 2 years respectively to support. The petitioner does embroidery work to earn his livelihood. We have also taken into consideration the fact that the petitioner during the course of trial remained in custody from

23.4.1996 till his acquittal on 18.6.1997, i.e. for a period of about 14 months. The accused was tried for this offence which was allegedly committed on 23.4.1996 and now 14 years have been elapsed. : 2 : Therefore, we feel that the interest of justice shall be served in case the substantial sentence is limited to the period already undergone by the accused. However, he is directed to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- and in case he does not pay the fine, he shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months. The petitioner is directed to deposit the fine within one month from today before the learned Trial Court. The police is directed to release the accused forthwith. “Dasti Copy” (Deepak Gupta) Judge (Sanjay Karol) Judge December 7, 2010 (guleria)