The Appellant/Accused was aggrieved and dissatisfied by the judgment passed by the Bombay High Court Bench at Aurangabad, in this judgment the High Court dismissed the appeal of the appellant and upheld the judgment of Additional Sessions Judge, Kopargaon, convicted the Accused of the offences punishable u/s 8(c) & 20(b) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and 10 years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs. 1,00,000.
Arguments Before the Court
The Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the amount of Ganja (narcotic substance) found in the possession of appellant was 6.300 KG, which was above the definition of small quantity and below the commercial quantity. As per the NDPS Act, 20 KG of Ganja was a commercial quantity & the punishment for possession of the same would be 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. It was prayed to adjust the sentence as he had already undergone 6 years of rigorous imprisonment out of 10 years.
The Counsel for the Respondent argued that after examining the aggravating points, the High Court had confirmed the conviction of the Appellant under the said Act with the punishment imposed by the trial court. Hence, it was prayed there should not be any interference with the punishment imposed on the Appellant which was confirmed by the High Court.
Observation of the Court
The Court observed that out of 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, the Appellant had already undergone 6 years of rigorous imprisonment. The Supreme court allowed the appeal to alter or adjust the sentence already undergone.
The Decision of the Court
The appeal was allowed by the Supreme Court. The Bench directed that the sentence imposed by the lower courts would be adjusted to six years, which was served by the Appellant.The observations of the High Court were confirmed by the Supreme Court.
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