Kaka Singh vs State of Punjab

S.S. Dewan, J.

Kaka Singh petitioner was convicted under Section 9 of the Opium Act, for having in his possession 51/4 kgs. of opium and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of Rs. 2000/ by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Rup Nagar. On appeal, the conviction and sentence of the petitioner have been maintained by a judgment of the learned Sessions Judge, Rup Nagar, dated February 17, 1981. The petitioner has now come up in revision.

The prosecution case in short is that on 17th June, 1978, at about 5.15 p.m. Sh. Swaran Singh, Inspector accompanied by SubInspector Sant Saran and other police officials, was present at the bus stand Morinda in connection with the investigation of a case F.I.R. No. 87 dated 29.5.1978 of Police Station Rup Nagar, for the offences punishable under Sections 457/380, Indian Penal Code. He received secret information that the petitioner was dealing in crushed poppy heads and opium and that a heavy quantity of opium and crushed poppyheads could be recovered from his possession. SubInspector Sadhu Singh, Station House Officer, Police Station Morinda along with some other joined the party headed by Inspector Swaran Singh. After sending the ruqa to the police station, SubInspector Sandhu Singh associated with him, Kapur Singh and then the police party proceeded towards village Saheri. The petitioner was spotted coming from the opposite direction on a motorcycle. On seeing the police party, he tried to escape but his motorcycle skidded. So leaving the motorcycle there, the petitioner fled away. The gunny bag, Exhibit P1 containing 5 1/4 kgs. of opium was recovered from the carrier of that motorcycle. A sample taken out of that opium and sent to the Chemical Examiner as subsequently found to the opium.

The prosecution case here in seems to bristle with a number of infirmities, the collective effect of which inevitably is that it case becomes obviously clouded with doubt. The first significant thing to notice here in is that Kapur Singh, the socalled independent witness joined by the police, was a stooge of the police of the worst type as it is manifest from the document, Exhibit D2, a copy of the judgment dated 11.2.1969 in a case against one Pritam Chand, wherein he has been dubbed as a stock witness of the police by Mr. Shamshad Ali Khan, the then Special Judge, Patiala. This apart, the Inspector made no effort to join any independent witness from the locality. It is thus evident that the provisions of Section 103 of the Criminal Procedure Code were not strictly complied with. In the absence of any independent corroboration, the prosecution case could only rest on the testimony of the two official witness, namely, SubInspector Sandhu Singh and Inspector Swaran Singh. It is unnecessary to advert to the material discrepancies in the evidence of these witness. These were noticed by the trial Court and the Appellate Court themselves but were conveniently passed over with the observations that they were the discrepancies of truth. I have adverted to the evidence of both these witnesses material contradictions would not raise a doubt about the credibility of the version given by the two witnesses.

It is equally significant to recall that the petitioner did raise a plausible defence regarding his false implication. He has stoutly alleged that in fact he was suspected as an accused in a criminal case registered for the murder of one Ram Ratan Liquorvendor of Morinda and the latter''s son grew inimically disposed towards him and got him involved in this case with the connivance of the aforesaid two police officials. In this context, it perhaps cannot be said that the two official witnesses were not biased against him on that score.

For the aforesaid reasons it appears to me that the conviction and sentence of the petitioner are unsustainable. The criminal revision is allowed and the conviction and sentence of the petitioner are hereby set aside.