11 yrs later, man gets RI in drugs case

Panaji: Eleven years after he was apprehended with narcotics at Pernem, a North Goa court has sentenced a man to five years rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 10,000.
The court stated it showed leniency to the accused by taking into consideration that he faced ten years of trial and is the only son with a younger sister who is unmarried.
The court set off the period for which he was in custody - between February 12 and 18, 2011. “Hence, considering the evidence of all the witnesses which are corroborated and the documents produced on record, there are no major discrepancies brought on record by the accused to show that prejudice is being caused to him,” the court stated.
“The prosecution has proved the charge against the accused, and hence I hold the accused guilty and convict him for the offence punishable under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act….” stated additional sessions judge, Mapusa, Kshama Joshi.
Twenty-one-year-old Nikhil Warkhankar from Sindhudurg was caught with 870 grams of charas near a bar at Kiranpani, ferry point, Palkem, Pernem on February 11, 2011 while waiting for a prospective customer.
The anti-narcotics cell received information that a male person with wheatish complexion between the age of 22 to 25 years, medium built, wearing jeans and long sleeves shirt would be coming to deliver narcotics on the date, between 9.55pm and 10.45pm to prospective customers.
They proceeded in a government jeep on the night concealing their presence and then apprehended the accused who was waiting for his prospective customer while carrying a plastic bag.
Public prosecutor A Talaulikar submitted that there is no discrepancy as far as the weight of the substance is concerned.
Counsel representing the accused K Poulekar argued that the complaint registered doesn’t state that the word ‘drug’ was used while giving information about the right of the accused before search of drugs.
He added that the witness does not state that the search was for ‘drugs’ was stated to the accused to accept or reject the offer under Section 50 (4) of the NDPS Act and that the entire panchanama is recorded in English, and it is stated by the witnesses that the conversation between raiding party members was in Konkani.
The counsel also pointed out that the investigating officer (IO) states that the Konkani words used for the gazetted officer was ‘Rajpatrik Adhikari’ and ‘Magistrate’, but the same is not found in the panchanama, complaint or in the evidence of the witnesses.