TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2009 (6) TMI 926
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....ther period of six months. They were acquitted of the other charge under Section 8 read with Section 29 of the Act. In appeal, the Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, set aside the judgment and order passed by the trial court and acquitted the respondents of the charge under Section 8/21 of the Act. 2. Against the judgment and order of acquittal passed by the Allahabad High Court the Union of India has come in appeal by special leave. 3. The recovery of heroin from the two respondents was made on August 5, 1994. They were convicted and sentenced by the trial court by judgment and order dated May 11, 2000 and were finally released on being acquitted by the High Court by its judgment and order dated November 22, 2002. On inquiry from t....
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....mmercial quantity but greater than small quantity, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees; (c)..........." 5. The position was quite different in 1994. At that time the possession of narcotic drug in excess of small quantity for personal consumption (5 milligrams, in case of heroin) attracted the punishment of rigorous imprisonment for a minimum period of ten years as well as fine of not less than rupees one lakh. Section 21 of the Act, as it stood in 1994, is as under:- "21. Punishment for contravention in relation to manufactured drugs and preparations.- Whoever, in contravention of any....
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....he prosecution case, on receipt of confidential information from an informer on August 5, 1994 a team of officers of the Central Bureau of Narcotics laid a vigil at Charbagh bus stand from 11.00 in the morning. At about 5 in the afternoon the informer gave the signal indicating the five suspects, including the two respondents, from each of whom the search party was able to recover 100 grams of heroin in presence of two independent witnesses, namely, Munni Lal and Salig Ram. The two respondents were tried before the Special Judge (E.C.A.), Lucknow (the other three suspects managed to abscond) who convicted and sentenced them as noted above. In appeal, however, the High Court set-aside the judgment of the Trial Court and acquitted the respond....
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....sp; "10. We are not concerned here with the wide definition of the word "person", which in the legal world includes corporations, associations or body of individuals as factually in these type of cases search of their premises can be done and not of their person. Having regard to the scheme of the Act and the context in which it has been used in the section it naturally means a human being or a living individual unit and not an artificial person. The word has to be understood in a broad common-sense manner and, therefore, not a naked or nude body of a human being but the manner in which a normal human being will move about in a civilized society. Therefore, the most appropriate meaning of the word "person....
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...., a briefcase, a suitcase, a tin box, a thaila, a jhola, a gathri, a holdall, a carton, etc. of varying size, dimension or weight. However, while carrying or moving along with them, some extra effort or energy would be required. They would have to be carried either by the hand or hung on the shoulder or back or placed on the head. In common parlance it would be said that a person is carrying a particular article, specifying the manner in which it was carried like hand, shoulder, back or head, etc. Therefore, it is not possible to include these articles within the ambit of the word "person" occurring in Section 50 of the Act." 9. The legal proposition advance by Mr. Terdal, based on the distinction between search of someone's person a....