SC quashes NDPS case against man falsely implicated in 1.75 Kg ganja dealing after 4 years due to lack of evidence

Supreme Court: In a criminal appeal against a decision of the Rajasthan High Court, whereby the accused person’s application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (‘CrPC’) was dismissed, Sudhanshu Dhulia and Aravind Kumar, JJ. quashed the criminal proceedings against the accused person who was being investigated for offence under Section 8 read with Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

The case of the accused was that he was being continuously harassed by the police who were trying to rope him in a case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (‘NDPS Act’). A First Information Report (‘FIR’) was filed in 2020 by the police wherein it was stated that ‘A’ and his wife ‘B’ were caught carrying 1.75 Kg of contraband (Ganja). Subsequently, after investigation, the charge-sheet was filed against the couple. The accused person was not named in the said FIR but further investigation is going on against the him for undisclosed reasons.

Vide order dated 07-05-2024, the Court ordered that no coercive steps shall be taken against the accused person, subject to his cooperation in the ongoing investigation.

On perusal of the detailed counter affidavit filed by the State, stating that prosecution found nothing against the accused person. It Court noted that in the affidavit it was said that the investigation against the accused person was due to the fact that the main accused had named him but later on it was discovered that it was a false accusation and ‘B’ had some disputes going on with accused person’s wife, hence, he was falsely implicated. The Court noted that the State did not wish to proceed any further against the accused person and proceedings against him are liable to be closed.

Therefore, considering the circumstances and submissions of the State and the counter affidavit filed by the State, the Court quashed the criminal proceedings arising out the FIR against the accused person.

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