Surinder Singh, J. - (1.) The two courts below have maintained the conviction of Bawa Singh petitioner under section 9(a) of the Gpium Act and his sentence of 2 years R.I. and a fine of Rs. 1000.00 and in default to undergo R.I. for 6 months. He was convicted along with his co-accused Amar Singh with the allegation that he had kept in his possession 32 kgs. of opium and 4 bags of crushed poppy husk, which were recovered in consequence of a raid at the liquor vend of the petitioner.
(2.) The 3 witnesses of recovery are Ajit Singh P.W. 1., Sadhu Singh son of Relu Singh P.W. 2 Sadhu Singh son of Arjan Singh P.W. 3 and S.I. Joginder Singh P.W. 4. It is not disputed that Ajit Singh P.W. was declared hostile and as per finding of the court below, the witness has purposely told a lie. The fact remains that his testimony has to be overruled. The other non-official witness Sadhu Singh also did not support the prosecution and in regard to this witness, the observation with regard to his testimony by the Lower Appellate Court is that "nothing can be further from truth and the witness has been prevailed upon by the accused, and he has come up with a distorted version." His averment must therefore meet the same fate as that of Ajit Singh. Sadhu Singh P.W. 3 was also declared hostile. We are consequently left with a solitary statement of S.I. Joginder Singh. After perusing the same and appreciating the evidence on the record, I find that it would be unsafe to place reliance upon the solitary statement of this witness in the circumstances of the present case. I am inclined to confer the benefit of doubt upon the petitioner.
(3.) The Revision Petition is accepted and the conviction and sentence of the petitioner are set aside. He is already on bail. His bail bond stands discharged. Revision petition accepted.;