HC upholds 12-year jail to 6 for carrying 1,200 kg poppy husk

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has upheld 12-year jail term awarded to six men by a Ludhiana court in a major drug seizure case of 2012 in which 1,200 kg of poppy husk was recovered.

On the night of September 16, 2012, the anti-narcotic cell of Ludhiana district had recovered the contraband from a truck and an Alto car being towed by it at a naka at Oswal Hospital Chowk.

The six persons arrested in the case were Mohan Lal Ravat, Bhagat

Ram, alias Wakta Ram Raberi, Uday Lal Gadri, Gautam Lal Ravat, Naresh Kumar and Krishan Lal. The accused were awarded 12-year jail term by a Ludhiana court in 2017, against which they had appealed in the high court.

The high court bench of justice Rajiv Sharma and justice HS Sidhu observed that once possession is established the person who claims that it was not a conscious possession has to establish it, because how he came to be in possession is within his special knowledge.

“All of them were travelling in the car and truck together. Moreover, whether there was conscious possession is to be determined with specific reference to factual matrix and they were aware of the contraband carrying in the car and the truck,” the bench said upholding the trial court order.

As per the prosecution, Naresh Kumar hails from Himachal Pradesh while the others, including kingpin Uday Lal Gadri, hail from Rajasthan. The drugs were procured from Rajasthan and the accused were on their way to supply these in Ludhiana, Hoshairpur and Jammu and Kashmir.