NDPS conspiracy proved by Section 67 confessions; acquittal set aside and conviction sustained for conspiracy.

Confessional statements recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act were treated as admissible and sufficient material to establish criminal conspiracy under Section 29, because conspiracy may be inferred from circumstances and does not require separate direct proof of every detail. The earlier acquittal had rested only on the absence of further investigation after the statements were recorded, but no later authority displaced their admissibility. On that basis, the acquittal for conspiracy was held unsustainable and was set aside, and the accused were convicted for the Section 29 offence.

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Issues: Whether the order of acquittal for the offence of criminal conspiracy under Section 29 of the NDPS Act was liable to be set aside on the basis of the confessional statements recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act.

Analysis: The prosecution case of conspiracy was founded on the statements of the accused recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, which the Court had already treated as voluntary and admissible and had relied upon to sustain convictions for the substantive narcotic offences. Criminal conspiracy is complete on proof of an agreement between two or more persons to commit an illegal act, and it may be inferred from circumstances; it is not necessary that every detail of the plan be proved by separate direct evidence. The earlier acquittal under Section 29 was based only on the absence of further investigation after the statements were recorded, but no authoritative later decision displaced the admissibility of such statements. In these circumstances, the confessional statements themselves furnished sufficient material to establish the conspiracy.

Conclusion: The acquittal for the offence under Section 29 of the NDPS Act was unsustainable and was set aside, and the accused were convicted for the said offence.

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