- (1.)The appellant is the original accused. He was charged for having committed the offences punishable under Section 8(c) read with Sections 21, 23, 28 and 29 of the N.D.P.S. Act, 1985. By judgment and order dated 25/10/2002, the Special Judge acquitted the accused of the offences punishable under Sections 23, 28 and 29 of the N.D.P.S. Act and convicted him for the offence punishable under Section 21 of the N.D.P.S. Act, 1985 and sentenced him to suffer R.I. for 10 years and to pay fine of Rs. 1 lakh and, in default of payment of fine, the accused was to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months. The appellant accused was arrested on 12/08/1999 and the period of pre-trial detention was set off. The appellant original accused is challenging the said judgment and order in this appeal.
(2.)Brief facts are as under :
(3.)The officers of the Narcotic Control Bureau, Bombay (hereinafter referred to as "NCB") received information that one Ahmed A. Adebayo was likely to carry heroin in huge quantity by concealing it in his baggage or body cavity and was scheduled to travel to Addis Ababa on 5/8/1999 by Flight No. ET-641 of the Ethiopian Airlines which was scheduled to leave Mumbai Airport at 7.30 hours. After this information was received, the Officers of the NCB went to the airport on 5/8/1999 and kept watch since 4.00 a.m. They contacted two persons & requested them to act as panchas and they were informed about the information which was received by them. When the Officers of the NCB and the panchas waited for the arrival of the said person, one Nigerian National came near the Customs Counter for customs clearance. The Customs Authorities cleared him after the customs formalities were over.