The Supreme Court of India has quashed the proceedings under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against a woman accused of receiving marijuana from two other persons near an educational institution. The Court found that no contraband had been recovered from her or her bag and held that continuing the prosecution would serve no useful purpose.
A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran allowed the appeal filed by Sanjana Bhaskaran, the fourth accused in the case. The Court also declined to direct her to undergo a de-addiction process.
Background
According to the prosecution, police received information that two persons were coming to sell marijuana near a college. A police team, accompanied by independent witnesses, reached the location and kept watch. The two persons arrived on a scooter, and the woman allegedly approached them before receiving a cover that she placed in her bag.
The packet reportedly contained dried leaves and buds later identified as marijuana. The woman also tested positive for marijuana use. However, the police officers' statements, as noted by the Supreme Court, indicated that no contraband had been recovered from her or from the bag she carried. The prosecution also relied on statements made by the co-accused and the woman's own alleged confession.
The Court questioned the manner in which the alleged recovery was made and observed that the police should have informed the woman of her right to be examined before a Magistrate before proceeding with the search, subject to her consent.
The Bench also expressed doubt over whether the woman knew that the cover contained a prohibited substance. It noted that the case against her rested primarily on the statements attributed to the co-accused and her own alleged confession.
The Court observed:
"In fact, when the police saw the appellant putting the cover in the bag, they should have informed her about her right to be examined before a Magistrate and then they should have carried out the search, if she consents to that. The version that the girl produced the cover voluntarily, raises a suspicion also with respect to the knowledge of the appellant, that there was a contraband in the cover."
The Bench further highlighted the need for a sensitive approach towards persons allegedly found at the lower end of the drug supply chain. It cautioned that imprisonment during trial could expose such individuals to harmful associations.
The Court stated:
"Prosecuting such victims can have a spiralling effect and incarceration pending trial, can lead to more disastrous consequences of the victim joining the supply chain, by reason only of associations developed in prisons. Curbing availability and breaking the supply chain shall be the focus and not merely punishing the user, who is actually the victim."
The State informed the Court that the government would not press for prosecution if the woman agreed to undergo de-addiction. However, the Bench declined to impose that condition, finding no established complicity on her part regarding conscious possession of narcotics.
The Court clarified that it had not examined the cases against the other accused persons. It quashed the woman's arraignment in the pending sessions case and allowed her appeal.
