Amritsar Special Court acquits 3 in 2021 heroin case over broken chain of custody
No inventory or sampling before a Magistrate under S. 52A, and the malkhana register did not match the seal record.
Published
00Background
Police claimed recovery of 260 g of heroin from a car at a naka in 2021. Three occupants were charged with possession of a commercial quantity and conspiracy.
01Submissions
For the prosecution
The recovery is proved by the official witnesses and the FSL report confirms heroin.
For the accused
No inventory or samples were drawn before a Magistrate as S. 52A requires, and the seal on the sample received at the FSL does not match the one recorded at the spot.
02Observations
The Court found the S. 52A procedure had not been followed at all and that the prosecution could not explain the seal mismatch, so it could not be sure the sample tested was the one recovered.
03Findings & directions
- All three accused acquitted of the charges under Ss. 21 and 29 NDPS Act.
- Bail bonds to stand for six months under S. 481 BNSS.
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