Ravindran v. State of Kerala

# **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** ## **PRESENT** **THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE K. BABU** **FRIDAY, THE 27[TH] DAY OF MAY 2022 / 6TH JYAISHTA, 1944** **CRL.A NO. 574 OF 2008** **AGAINST THE JUDGMENT IN SC 412/2006 OF ADDITIONAL SESSIONS COURT(FAST TRACK COURT NO.II ADHOC), THRISSUR** ## **APPELLANT/ACCUSED:** RAVINDRAN, S/O. VELAYUDHAN, ELANTHARA VEETTIL, PONNORE DESOM, EDAKKALATHUR VILLAGE, THRISSUR TALUK. BY ADVS. P.VIJAYA BHANU (SR.) P.MAYA ## **RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT:** STATE OF KERALA, REP. BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA,ERNAKULAM. BY ADV SMT. REKHA,S (SR.P.P) THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 27.05.2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: Crl.A No.574 of 2008 2 ## K.BABU, J. -------------------------------------Criminal Appeal No.574 of 2008 --------------------------------------Dated this the 27[th] day of May, 2022 ## JUDGMENT Aggrieved by the judgment dated 06.03.2008, passed by the Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court No.II-Adhoc), Thrissur in S.C.No.412/2006, the accused has preferred this appeal. The appellant was convicted under Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act and sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a term of three years and pay a fine of Rs.1 Lakh. 2. The prosecution case is that on 30.10.2003 the accused was found in possession of 4 litres of illicit arrack on the Janatha road at Ponnore desom. 3. After completing the investigation, final report was submitted against the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kunnamkulam. The case was committed to the Sessions Court, Thrissur from where it was made over to the Trial 3 Crl.A No.574 of 2008 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 7 and proved Exts.P1 to P14 and MOs 1 and 2. 5. After the closure of the prosecution evidence, the 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. After hearing the arguments addressed on both sides, the Trial Court convicted the appellant for the aforesaid offence. 6. Heard Sri. P.Vijaya Bhanu, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant/accused and Smt. Rekha.S, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondent. 7. The learned Senior Counsel for the appellant challenged the 4 Crl.A No.574 of 2008 judgment of conviction and sentence on the ground that the prosecution failed to establish that the contraband substance seized from the place of occurrence was eventually subjected to analysis in the Chemical Examiner's laboratory. 8. The learned Senior Counsel for the appellant relied on the following circumstances to substantiate his contentions: - (a) The nature and description of the seal stated to have been affixed on the bottle containing the sample have not been narrated in Ext.P1 seizure mahazar. - (b) The specimen of the seal was not produced before the Court at the time of production of the articles including the sample so as to ensure the genuineness of the sample. - (c) No forwarding note/requisition for sending sample to the laboratory was produced and marked. - (d) There is nothing to show that the specimen seal was provided to the Chemical Examiner's laboratory to ascertain the genuineness of the Crl.A No.574 of 2008 5 ## sample. 9. In Ext.P1 seizure mahazar, the contemporaneous document evidencing seizure, arrest and drawing of sample, the detecting officer has not narrated the nature and description of the seal used. The detecting officer has also not given evidence as to the nature and description of the seal stated to have been affixed on the bottle containing the sample. 10. The prosecution has failed to establish that the specimen seal was produced before the Court at the time of production of the articles including the sample. No forwarding note/requisition for sending sample to the laboratory was produced and marked to establish that the specimen seal was forwarded to the Chemical Examiner's laboratory to ensure the genuineness of the sample forwarded. 11. The sample remained in the custody of the property clerk of the Court from 31.10.2003 to 02.04.2004. The sample was handed over to the Excise guard by name M.S.Santhoshkumar, who delivered the same in the Chemical Examiner's laboratory. The prosecution has not examined these two officials to establish the Crl.A No.574 of 2008 6 ## tamper-proof despatch of the sample. 12. The crux of the offences under the Abkari Act, by its very nature, is the seizure of the contraband. The prosecution in a case of this nature can succeed only if it establishes that the very same sample drawn at the place of occurrence was the sample tested in the Chemical Examiner's laboratory. 13. A legal obligation is cast on the prosecution to prove that the contraband substance allegedly seized from the possession of the accused eventually reached the Chemical Examiner's laboratory in a tamper-proof condition. The chain of custody of the contraband commencing from the place of occurrence to the stage when it reaches the laboratory is required to be established by the prosecution. 14. In Sasidharan v. State of Kerala [2007 (1) KLT 720] , this Court had occasion to elucidate on the legal obligation cast on the prosecution to prove that the sample allegedly seized from the accused eventually reached the hands of the Chemical Examiner in a tamper-proof condition. Relying on State of Rajasthan v. Daulat Ram [AIR 1980 SC 1314] in Sasidharan's case (supra) this Court held 7 Crl.A No.574 of 2008 that where sample changed several hands before reaching the Chemical Examiner, the prosecution had to necessarily examine the various officials who handled the sample to prove that while in their custody the seals on the sample have not been tampered with. In Sathi v. State of Kerala [2007 (1) ILR 718 (Ker.)], this Court reemphasized on the requirement of strict compliance with the statutory formalities in the matter of sampling/sealing, etc., of the contraband to be sent for Chemical Examination. In Sathi's case (supra), this Court further held that Courts could presume that an official act was regularly and properly performed only if the said act was shown to have been performed. This Court specified that the presumption under Section 114(e) of the Evidence Act has no application in circumstances where official acts are not shown to be performed properly. The ratio in Sasidharan's case (supra) and Sathi's case (supra) has been affirmed by a Division Bench of this Court in Ravi v. State of Kerala [2011 (3) KLT 353]. 15. In Bhaskaran K. v. State of Kerala and another (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 Crl.A No.574 of 2008 8 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. 16. In Rajamma v. State of Kerala [2014 (1) KLT 506] , this Court held that if the specimen of the seal affixed on the bottle containing the sample is not produced before the Court and forwarded to the Chemical Examiner for verification to ensure that the sample seal so provided is tallying with the seal affixed on the sample, no evidentiary value can be attached to the chemical analysis report. 17. In Ramachandran v. State of Kerala [2021 (1) KLT 793] while dealing with a case in which forwarding note/requisition for sending sample to the laboratory was not produced and marked, this Court held that the prosecution could not establish the tamper-proof despatch of the sample to the laboratory as there was no satisfactory link evidence to show that it was the same sample that was drawn from the contraband seized eventually reached the Chemical Examiner's laboratory {Vide: Baburaj v. State of Kerala [2021 (6) KLT 416]} 18. In the absence of any evidence to show that the Crl.A No.574 of 2008 9 contraband substance seized from the place of occurrence was subjected to analysis in the Chemical Examiner's laboratory, Ext.P13, the certificate of chemical analysis, has no evidentiary value. 19. 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 co-related. 20. It is settled that the prosecution in a case of this nature can succeed only if it is proved that the sample which was analysed in the Chemical Examiner's laboratory was the very same sample which was drawn from the contraband substance said to have been seized from the possession of the accused {Vide: State of Rajasthan v. Daulat Ram [AIR 1980 SC 1314], Sasidharan v. State of Kerala [2007 (1) KHC 275]}. 21. In the instant case, the prosecution was unable to establish the link connecting the accused with the contraband seized and the samples analysed in the laboratory. The accused is entitled to the benefit of doubt arising from the absence of link Crl.A No.574 of 2008 10 ## evidence as discussed above. 22. The upshot of the above discussion is that the conviction entered by the Court below overlooking these vital aspects of the matter cannot, therefore, be sustained. The appellant/accused is, therefore, not guilty of the offence punishable under Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act. He is acquitted of the charge. He is set at liberty. The appeal is allowed as above. Sd/K.BABU, JUDGE KAS