Mohali: A Special NDPS Court in Mohali has convicted a Himachal Pradesh resident for possessing 700 grams of charas and sentenced him to four years of rigorous imprisonment (RI). The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000, with an additional one-month RI in case of default.The convict, Sunil Thakur, was arrested by the special task force (STF), Phase 4, Mohali, from Gharuan bus stand on Feb 21, 2019. The court directed that the period already spent by the accused in judicial custody be set off against the sentence.According to the prosecution, the STF received specific information that Thakur was travelling by bus from Ludhiana to Gharuan carrying charas. Acting on the tip-off, an STF team laid a naka at Gharuan bus stand.At 4.30pm, the accused got off the bus and allegedly appeared nervous on spotting police personnel. After completing mandatory legal formalities and in the presence of a DSP, police searched his bag and recovered 700 grams of charas. Samples were drawn, sealed and the contraband was seized.The prosecution said the samples were later sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which confirmed that the recovered substance was charas.During interrogation, Thakur allegedly told investigators that he had procured the contraband from Nishant Khanna of Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. Khanna was later arrested with 200 grams of charas and named in the case. However, proceedings against him were abated following his death during the trial.During the trial, the defence questioned the prosecution’s case, citing the absence of independent witnesses, delay in sending samples to the FSL and alleged procedural lapses under the NDPS Act.Rejecting the arguments, the court held that the prosecution had established an unbroken chain of evidence. It observed that the absence of independent witnesses by itself did not make the recovery doubtful and noted that the samples remained properly sealed until they reached the FSL.Relying on the forensic report and evidence on record, the court concluded that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that 700 grams of charas had been recovered from the accused’s possession and convicted him under Section 20 of the NDPS Act.
