TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2003 (12) TMI 628
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....pur started for Sri Ganganagar at 21.00 hours. Dr. R.P. Sharma informed officers of the team that one thousand litre Acitic N Hydride has been reportedly concealed in a Kachha Kotha (unripe-room) constructed in the field situated on the way of village Bhagasar Aborlya and village Chak Maharajka or in the nearby area. B.S. Vasistha (PW-1) was appointed as the seizing officer and he was ordered to execute the proceedings. In compliance thereof he reached on the site on 13.12.95 at about 6.30 hours, called independent witnesses Tiku Ram and Sakata Ram and made inquiries about the Kotha constructed in the field situated on the way of Bhagasar and Chak Maharajka village. He came to know that the Kotha belongs to accused-respondent Kuldeep Singh and the agriculture field has been given to one Fateh Mohammad for cultivation, whereupon Fateh Mohammad was called and interrogated. He informed that the Kotha belongs to accused-Kuldeep Singh. Thereupon Kuldeep Singh was called from his house and the closed Kotha was opened by the accused wherein forty four plastic containers kept under the chaff of wheat were found. Out of them 43 containers were of black colour and one was of white colour. Wh....
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....mum sentence for both the charges and the provisions only stipulated maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and fine upto Rs. 1,00,000/-, the maximum sentences both custodial and fine should not have been imposed. It was pointed out that the trial Court had not considered this aspect and merely on the ground that 880 litres of the contraband had been recovered and the quantity of heroine which could have been made therefrom should not have weighed for awarding the maximum sentence. With reference to the submissions made before the trial Court, it was pointed out that the father of the accused is a person of 85 years of age and the mother had expired four months earlier and there is no other earning member. Further, it was pointed out that the accused had also remained in custody for six and half years and, therefore, the custodial sentence should be reduced to the period undergone and fine imposed should also be reduced. The High Court noticed the factual position and held that the conviction has been rightly made but taking note of the fact that there was no evidence to show that the accused was a habitual offender the sentence was reduced to the period of custody undergone whi....
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....ugs disappear and they are the first sacrifices one normally makes while falling prey to use of drugs. Anxiety of the legislature is to prevent the adverse affect of such drugs and substances on the society. The Act like any other enactment aims at regulating human conduct. Drugs abuse and drugs addiction are corroding the health fabric of the society. The efficacy of the Act depends on its implementation and a proper use of it to meet the challenges posed by the drug traffickers and smugglers and their tribe. The law has been made very stringent and, therefore, this court had occasion to highlight the need for strict compliance with the requirements of the Act. In that background the sufficiency of sentence in the case at hand has to be gauzed. Law regulates social interests, arbitrates conflicting claims and demands. Undoubtedly, there is a cross cultural conflict where living law must find answer to the new challenges and the courts are required to mould the sentencing system to meet the challenges. The contagion of lawlessness would undermine social order and lay it in ruins. Friedman in his "Law in Changing Society" stated that, "State of criminal law continues to be \026 a....
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....sappeared from the law only in recent times. Even now for a single grave infraction drastic sentences are imposed. Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought then to be a measure of toleration that is unwarranted and unwise. But in fact, quite apart from those considerations that make punishment unjustifiable when it is out of proportion to the crime, uniformly disproportionate punishment has some very undesirable practical consequences. After giving due consideration to the facts and circumstances of each case, for deciding just and appropriate sentence to be awarded for an offence, the aggravating and mitigating factors and circumstances in which a crime has been committed are to be delicately balanced on the basis of really relevant circumstances in a dispassionate manner by the Court. Such act of balancing is indeed a difficult task. It has been very aptly indicated in Dennis Councle MCGDautha v. State of Callifornia: 402 US 183: 28 L.D. 2d 711 that no formula of a foolproof nature is possible that would provide a reasonable criterion in determining a just and appropriate punishment in the infinite variety of circumstances that may aff....
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....which are germane for consideration of appropriate punishment in a criminal trial. The Court will be failing in its duty if appropriate punishment is not awarded for a crime which has been committed not only against the individual victim but also against the society to which the criminal and victim belong. The punishment to be awarded for a crime must not be irrelevant but it should conform to and be consistent with the atrocity and brutality with which the crime has been perpetrated, the enormity of the crime warranting public abhorrence and it should "respond to the society's cry for justice against the criminal". An offence relating to narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances is more heinous than a culpable homicide because the latter affects only an individual while the former affects and leaves its deleterious impact on the society, besides shattering the economy of the nation as well. That the legislature intended to make the offences under the Act so serious to be dealt with sternly and with an iron hand is made clear by providing for enhanced penalties, including even death sentence, in certain class of cases, when convicted for the second time. It is true as contend....
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....s knowledge and prudence, that discernment which enables a person to judge critically of what is correct and proper united with caution; nice discernment, and judgment directed by circumspection; deliberate judgment; soundness of judgment; a science or understanding to discern between falsity and truth, between wrong and right, between shadow and substance, between equity and colorable glosses and pretences, and not to do according to the will and private affections of persons. When it is said that something is to be done within the discretion of the authorities, that something is to be done according to the rules of reason and justice, not according to private opinion; according to law and not humour. It is to be not arbitrary, vague, and fanciful, but legal and regular. And it must be exercised within the limit, to which an honest man, competent to the discharge of his office ought to confine himself (Per Lord Halsbury, L.C., in Sharp v. Wakefield, (1891) Appeal Cases 173). Also (See S.G. Jaisinghani v. Union of India and Ors. (AIR 1967 SC 1427). The word "discretion" standing single and unsupported by circumstances signifies exercise of judgment, skill or wisdom as distinguis....