Conscious possession and NDPS presumptions sustain conviction where contraband is recovered from a vehicle and no prejudice is shown.

In narcotics prosecutions, once recovery from a vehicle occupied by the accused establishes conscious possession, the statutory presumptions under Sections 35 and 54 of the NDPS Act operate and the burden shifts to the accused to rebut them. On the facts, the occupants fled and no cogent material was produced to displace the finding of possession and control over the contraband. The conviction was also not disturbed because the testimony of police witnesses was found reliable despite non-examination of independent witnesses, and the alleged omission under Section 313 CrPC did not show material prejudice or failure of justice. The conviction and sentence were upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether the appellants were in conscious possession of the contraband and whether the statutory presumptions under the NDPS Act were rebutted. (ii) Whether the conviction was vitiated by non-examination of independent witnesses and by omission to put the incriminating circumstance to the appellants under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Issue (i): Whether the appellants were in conscious possession of the contraband and whether the statutory presumptions under the NDPS Act were rebutted.

Analysis: The recovery was from a jeep occupied by the appellants, carrying a large quantity of poppy husk in ten bags. The surrounding circumstances, including their conduct in fleeing and the evidence accepted by the courts below, supported possession and control over the contraband. Once possession was established, the presumptions under Sections 35 and 54 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 operated, and the appellants were required to explain how the contraband was in the vehicle. No cogent material was produced to rebut that presumption.

Conclusion: The appellants failed to dislodge the finding of conscious possession, and the finding operated against them.

Issue (ii): Whether the conviction was vitiated by non-examination of independent witnesses and by omission to put the incriminating circumstance to the appellants under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The absence of independent witnesses was not fatal because the police witnesses were found reliable, and the prosecution explained that bystanders were unwilling to join. The law does not require rejection of police testimony merely because it comes from official witnesses. As to Section 313, the appellants did not show material prejudice from the alleged omission, and such an omission does not vitiate the trial unless failure of justice is demonstrated.

Conclusion: Neither the absence of independent witnesses nor the Section 313 objection warranted interference with the conviction.

Final Conclusion: The conviction and sentence were upheld, and the appeal was dismissed as meritless.

Ratio Decidendi: In narcotics cases, once possession of contraband is established, the statutory presumptions of conscious possession and mental state operate against the accused and the burden shifts to him to rebut them; the absence of independent witnesses or a Section 313 omission does not vitiate the conviction unless prejudice or unreliability is shown.

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