Gopi v. State of Kerala

## **`IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM`** ## **`PRESENT`** ## **`THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K. BABU`** ``` FRIDAY, THE 5[TH] DAY OF APRIL 2024 / 16TH CHAITHRA, 1946 ``` ``` CRL.A NO. 943 OF 2009 ``` ``` AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT DATED 04.05.2009 IN SC NO.182 OF 2007 OF ADDITIONAL SESSIONS COURT (ADHOC)-II, THODUPUZHA ``` ``` APPELLANT/S: ``` ``` GOPI, S/O.GOVINDAN, AGED 59 YEARS, KURUKKANPARAMBIL HOUSE, MARIYAPURAM KARA, THANKAMANI VILLAGE. ``` ``` BY ADVS. SRI.T.J.MICHAEL SRI.SHAJI KURIAN ``` ## **`RESPONDENT/S:`** ``` STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR. ``` ``` BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI G SUDHEER ``` ``` THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 05.04.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: ``` Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 2 ## **K.BABU, J** ------------------------------------------------- ## **Crl Appeal No.943 of 2009** ------------------------------------------------Dated this the 5[th] day of April, 2024 ## **JUDGMENT** Aggrieved by the judgment dated 04.05.2009, passed by the IV Additional Sessions Court (Adhoc-II), Thodupuzha in S.C.No. 182/2007, the appellant/accused has preferred this appeal. The appellant was convicted under Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of three years and pay a fine of Rs.1 Lakh. 2. The prosecution case is that on 20.01.2005 at 05.45 p.m.,the accused was found in possession of 1.400 litres of arrack at Kattappana in Thankamani village in violation of the provisions of the Abkari Act. 3. After completing the investigation, final report was submitted against the accused for the offence Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 3 punishable under Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act before the jurisdictional Magistrate. The case was committed to the Sessions Court from where it was made over to the trial Court. On the appearance of the accused charge was framed against him for the offence punishable under Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act. The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and therefore, he came to be tried by the trial Court for the aforesaid offence. 4. The prosecution examined PWs 1 to 8 and proved Exts.P1 to P12 and MO1. 5. After the closure of evidence on behalf of the prosecution, statement of the accused under Section 313 Cr.P.C. was recorded. He pleaded innocence. The trial Court heard the matter under Section 232 Cr.P.C. and found evidence against the accused and hence he was called upon to enter on his defence and adduce evidence, if any, he may have in support thereof. The trial Court, after hearing the arguments addressed on both sides, found the accused guilty of the offence punishable under Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 4 Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act and convicted him thereunder. 6. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the appellant/accused and the learned Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent. 7. The learned counsel for the appellant challenges the judgment of conviction and sentence on the ground that the prosecution failed to establish that the contraband substance seized from the place of occurrence eventually reached the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory. 8. The learned counsel relied on the following circumstances to substantiate his contentions: (i)Ext.P4 seizure mahazar does not contain the nature and description of the seal stated to have been affixed on the bottle containing the sample. (ii)The various officials who handled the sample during the course of its transit from the Court to the laboratory were not examined. Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 5 9. The alleged seizure was effected on 20.01.2005. Ext.P4 is the seizure mahazar prepared by the detecting officer at the scene of occurrence. Ext.P4 does not contain the specimen of the seal used by the detecting officer. He has also not produced the specimen of the seal before the Court at the time of production of properties before the Court and has not given evidence as to the nature of the seal used. 10. In **Bhaskaran v. State of Kerala (2020 KHC 5296)** , this Court held that the nature of the seal used by the detecting officer shall be mentioned in the seizure mahazar and the specimen of the seal shall be produced in the Court so as to enable the Court to satisfy the genuineness of the sample produced in the Court. 11. Exhibit P7 is the copy of the forwarding note. Exhibit P7 does not contain the name of the official with whom the sample was forwarded to the laboratory. The space meant for entering the name of the official with whom the sample was forwarded is left vacant in Ext. Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 6 P7.The sample was received in the Court by the Junior Superintendent of the Court, which remained in the custody of the Property Clerk and was delivered in the laboratory by an Excise Guard by name Sri. Zacharias Joseph. The Junior Superintendent of the Court, the Property Clerk and Sri. Zacharias Joseph, the Excise Guard who delivered the sample in the laboratory were not examined by the prosecution to rule out the possibility of the sample being changed or tampered with. Non-examination of those officials who handled the sample during the course of its transit from the Court to the laboratory is fatal to the prosecution as prosecution failed to rule out the possibility of the sample being changed or tampered with. This view is fortified by the decision of the Apex Court in **State of Rajasthan v. Daulat Ram (AIR 1980 SC 1314)** . 12. The resultant conclusion is that the prosecution failed to establish that the contraband substance allegedly seized from the place of occurrence was Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 7 subjected to analysis in the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratory. Therefore, Ext.P8 Certificate of Chemical Analysis has no evidentiary value. 13. In **Vijay Pandey v. State of U.P (AIR 2019 SC 3569)** the Apex Court held that mere production of a laboratory report that the sample tested was the contraband substance cannot be conclusive proof by itself and that the sample seized and that tested have to be corelated. 14. In the instant case, the prosecution was unable to establish the link connecting the accused with the contraband seized and the sample analysed in the laboratory. The accused is entitled to the benefit of doubt arising from the absence of link evidence as discussed above. 15. The upshot of the above discussion is that the conviction and sentence entered by the Court below overlooking these vital aspects of the matter cannot, therefore, be sustained. In the result, the 8 Crl.A.No.943 of 2009 appellant/accused is acquitted of the offence alleged. He is set at liberty. Any amount deposited by the accused as per the interim orders of the Court shall be disbursed to him as per law. The Criminal Appeal is allowed as above. Sd/- **K.BABU, JUDGE** kkj