A.K.Chatterjee, J. - (1.) The appellant has been convicted by a learned Judge of City Sessions Court, Calcutta under Section 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and also to pay a fine of Rs. 1,00,000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for three months for having a unauthorised possession of 100 gms of heroin in the circumstances as under.
(2.) Pursuant to a certain information, a team of Intelligence Officers of the Narcotic Control Bureau, Eastern Zonal Unit (Bureau for short) led by Sri Amitava Chatterjee, P.W. 2 mounted surveillance at the crossing of Park Street and Free School Street in Calcutta on the 26th August, 1989 at about 4 p.m. About an hour thereafter, the appellant, on being pointed out by the source accompanying the team, was intercepted. He had in his hand a packet wrapped in a newspaper which on being opened at the time of preliminary search after observing legal formalities was found to contain a polythene packet having some white powder in it, believed to be heroin. As a crowd gathered after interception of the appellant, he and the witnesses were brought to the office of the Bureau with their consent where by perforating the polythene packet, a small quantity of white powder was taken out and on test it was found to be heroin. Thereafter a sample was drawn from the packet, seizure was completed and a seizure list prepared on which the witnesses and the appellant signed and a copy thereof was duly delivered to him. A certain room of Chowringhee Hotel Where the appellant was said to be a boarder was also searched and some personal effects belonging to him were seized. Sri A. Dasgupta, P.W. 4, an Intelligence Officer of the Bureau recorded a statement of the appellant under section 67 of the Act on the same date while Shyamal Dry, P.W. 5, another Intelligence Officer of the Bureau arrested him on the following date at about 8 p.m. for which an arrest memo setting forth the grounds for arrest was prepared and a copy thereof was furnished to the appellant. Sri Ashoke Mukhopadhya, P.W. 1, another Intelligence Officer filed a complaint before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta and ultimately on the 18th April, 1990 the learned Magistrate in terms of Section 36A(1)(b) read with Section 36A(c) and section 36(d)(1) of the Act forwarded the case record to the Chief Judge of the City Sessions Court, Calcutta who in turn assigned the case to the trial Judge for disposal.
(3.) The appellants defence appeared to be that he was not in possession of any narcotic substance at all and that he was apprehended while he was taking tea at a nearby hotel and he had no option but to append signature on certain papers etc., for fear of assault by the Officers.;