Anushka Sharma-
Published On: October 17, 2021 at 14:00 IST
Punjab and Haryana High Court while granting Bail to an accused in a Drug Case stated that the Forensic Report in a drug seizure serves as the foundation for the Prosecution’s claims, and that if it was missing, the entire case would be thrown out.
The Bench accepted that the Supreme Court has concluded that a challan, even if not accompanied by a report from the chemical examiner or an expert, cannot be considered to be incomplete.
However the Bench of Justice Gurvinder Singh a observed that, “It needs to be highlighted that the said cases did not pertain to an offence under the NDPS Act. A case under the NDPS Act can only survive in case the prosecution is able to establish that the article recovered is indeed contraband and which can only be established on the basis of its chemical examination.”
A Bail Application from Vinay Kumar of Sirsa, who was detained in December 2020, was being heard in the Court. Kumar was detained with 7,000 Tramadol Hydrochloride tablets, according to the Police.
On March 4, 2021, the Challan was brought to the Trial Court, but without the chemical examination report.
The deadline for submitting a Challan under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which is 180 days, passed on June 20, yet the Prosecution did not file the Forensic Report.
On June 22, Kumar applied for release, claiming that the challan could not be considered complete without the FSL report. The Trial Court, however, dismissed the plea.
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