Mumbai: A special court NDPS court recently convicted a 60-year-old woman and sentenced her to five years rigorous imprisonment for possessing 9 kg of ganja in 2014. The court observed that drug addiction destroys an entire generation and indirectly weakens the nation, hence, those involved in such trafficking must be dealt with stern hands and awarded strict punishment,The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on the convict, Ramija Shaikh, noting that the “illegal trade in drugs has created major stigma on the social structure of the country.” “The accused herein was found with 9 kilograms of Ganja, which does not fall within the commercial quantity. However, it is a substantial quantity brought for sell,” Special Judge UC Deshmukh said. Shaikh was also fined Rs 30,000. She was out on bail. On April 25, 2014, Shaikh was arrested, after the Anti Narcotic Cell received a tip-off that she would be arriving near the Home Guard Training Institution in Ghatkopar to sell the contraband. She was subsequently searched and arrested after the contraband was found in her bag.During the trial, the panch witness, Chamelidevi Gupta deposed that while the seizure happened in her presence, she could not identify Shaikh because the person at the spot was wearing a burkha. The judge, however, observed that the incident took place 12 years ago and the witness was now 60 years old. It was further noted that the credibility of the police witnesses remained intact despite minor discrepancies regarding the seating capacity of the police vehicle used during the raid. The judge noted that all other witnesses deposed that drug sample sent for chemical analysis was drawn on the spot. “Therefore, mere Chamelidevi Jaituram Gupta does not identify the accused before the court cannot be a grounds to infer that she is not the same person from whose possession Ganja has been seized…the accused is held guilty for the charge levelled against her,” the judge said. The court found that the procedural requirements, including those under Section 50 of the NDPS Act regarding the right to be searched before a gazetted officer, were sufficiently met.While the defence argued that Shaikh was falsely implicated and pointed to the fact that an independent witness failed to identify her in court, the prosecution relied on the consistent testimonies of several police officers and a chemical analyser who confirmed the seized substance was ganja.
