'Contraband Sent In Unsealed Condition To Malkhana After Examination At FSL': Punjab & Haryana HC Acquits Man Sentenced To 10 Years Jail In NDPS Case

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has acquitted a man convicted under Section 22(c) of the NDPS Act, on the ground that after examining the contraband, the chemical examiner at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) failed to "re-enclose" it inside the cloth parcels and emboss the seals of the FSL on it.

Gurinder Singh was allegedly caught with 372 grams of heroin and convicted under Section 22(c) of the NDPS Act in 2019. He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of ten years by Special Court, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Punjab.

Raising doubt on the evidentiary value of the material that was relied upon by the prosecution, the bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur said,

"When the chemical examiner concerned, after examining the stuff inside the sealed cloth parcels, omitted to re-enclose the examined stuff inside the cloth parcels, and, also omitted to emboss thereons the seals of the FSL concerned. Therefore, it appears, that the stuff after becoming examined by the chemical examiner concerned, was thus enclosed in loose cloth parcels, and, thereafter the said loose cloth parcels, became sent in an unsealed condition, thus to the incharge of the malkhana concerned."

The Court opined that since the material was sent in loose packet “thereby the stuff, if any, existing inside Ex. MO1 and Ex. MO2, rather became introduced thereins, and/or, that the case property, if any, became tampered with.”

Justice Thakur observed that since the primary material which is being relied upon is under “a cloud of deep suspicion”, charge drawn against the accused did not come to be cogently established.

Singh was arrested in 2017 after he was allegedly caught with 372 grams of heroin and intoxicating injections by a Policeman while on patrolling duty from Village Majaari in the direction of Village Mehndpur, Punjab.

The material was sealed and sent to FSL and after the examination it was allegedly found that the material seized was heroin. However, after the examination the chemical examiner did not seal the parcel containing the material.

"The above was required to be mandatorily done, as, thereupon the imperatively required to be proven, thus unbroken links in the chain of incriminatory evidence, commencing from the seizure being made from the crime site, through recovery memo Ex. PW-3/A, and, lasting upto the production of the case property in Court, thereby thus would become convincingly proven, rather to remain unsnapped or unbroken," said the court. 

Case Title: Gurjinder Singh @ Ginda v. State of Punjab

Counsel: Advocates Saurav Bhatia for appellant.

Monika Jalota, Sr. DAG, Punjab.

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