Supreme Court acquits man in NDPS case nearly 11 years after he was booked

The Supreme Court on Thursday acquitted a man who was booked nearly 11 years ago in a case filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) [Ajay Kumar Gupta v. Union of India]..A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih noted that there was nothing to indicate the man's involvement in an alleged plot to transport 30 cartons of Fortwin injections (Pentazocine, a painkiller) without a licence."There is no recovery from the appellant (accused man) of any incriminating material. There is no evidence to show that the contraband tried to be transported by accused no.1 by railway parcel was delivered by or on behalf of the appellant to accused no.1. There is no evidence of any conspiracy against the appellant. Therefore, the respondent has not established the offences punishable under Sections 22(c) and 29 of the NDPS Act against the appellant beyond a reasonable doubt," the Court said..The appellant had been accused of handing over 30 cartons of Pentazocine to a co-accused, which was then sought to be transported across State lines.The appellant was running a medical shop in Patna when the first accused (accused no.1) allegedly approached him to place an order for 40 cartons of pentazocine (Fortwin injections). The appellant is said to have replied that he could only provide 30 cartons at that time for cash.The appellant is alleged to have then asked another co-accused (accused no. 3), who also ran a medical shop, to send the 30 cartons to the first accused. An NDPS case was registered in December 2013 and all the accused persons (including the appellant) were convicted by the trial court for transporting a commercial quantity of contraband. On appeal, the Patna High Court upheld the conviction of the appellant.Aggrieved, the appellant challenged his conviction before the Supreme Court..The Supreme Court disagreed with the decision to convict the appellant. Among other factors, the top court noted that both the trial court and the High Court relied upon the appellant's statement under Section 67 NDPS Act (information given to officer enquiring into NDPS offence).The Court pointed out that a statement recorded under Section 67 cannot be used as a confessional statement, as laid down in the case of Tofan Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu (2021)."Therefore, the appellant's statement recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act is not admissible in evidence and cannot be read in evidence," the Court said.It proceeded to acquit the appellant after noting that there was nothing to show that he was involved in the alleged crime. "There is absolutely no legal evidence on record to show that the contraband attempted to be transported by accused no.1 by a railway parcel was supplied to him by the appellant. There is no evidence of the appellant's participation in any conspiracy. Therefore, the conviction of the appellant cannot be sustained," the Court said. .Advocates Vivek Singh, Ritik Dwivedi, Vishal M Sundaramughan and Abhishek Gupta, appeared for the appellant.Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, Senior Advocates Sonia Mathur, Rajat Nair, advocates Ruchi Kohli, K Parmeshwar, Jitender Kr Tripathi and Arvind Kumar Sharma, appeared for the respondent (Union of India)..[Read Judgment]