The Supreme Court while acquitted the driver of the taxi from which contraband was seized under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) and held that ‘taxi driver’ not expected to give passenger details.
The bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah has observed that no incriminating material was seized from the person of the appellant, taxi driver and that he had not made any effort to run away, moreover, the two bags from which the contraband was seized were not found to be hidden but were rather visible, we find no material on record to link the appellant-driver with the contraband so as to prosecute and convict him for any offence under the NDPS Act.
The appellant is a taxi driver. On 03.06.2010 at about 08:00 p.m., while the appellant was carrying two passengers, his taxi being Tata India Car No. MH-10-E-3932 was stopped by the Deputy Superintendent Police at Belgaum whereupon the two passengers sitting at the back fled. The vehicle was searched and 20 kilograms of ganja which was packed in two visible bags were seized.
The appellant was prosecuted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and was convicted. He was directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for ten years and to deposit a fine of Rs. 1,00,000.
The taxi driver has already suffered seven years and one month of actual incarceration, and he is on bail.
The driver submitted that the offending vehicle was a taxi and that when the vehicle was stopped, the driver of the vehicle made no effort to run away but the two passengers in the car ran away. During the search, no incriminating material was found from the person of the appellant.
The driver took the defence that he is totally ignorant about the contraband being carried in his vehicle and it may belong to the passengers who have fled from the spot. Therefore, since the contraband cannot be linked to the appellant, he is not liable to be prosecuted. Moreover, the procedure prescribed for the personal search was not followed.
The court while allowing the appeal held that no material on record to link the appellant-driver with the aforesaid contraband so as to prosecute and convict him for any offence under the NDPS Act.
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Case Details
Case Title: Sri Shankar Dongarisaheb Bhosale Versus The State Of Karnataka
Case No.: Criminal Appeal No. 1221/2017
Date: January 09, 2025
Counsel For Appellant: Manjunath Meled, Vijayalaxmi Udapudi, Anil Kumar
Counsel For Respondent: V. N. Raghupathy, Raghavendra M. Kulkarni, Mythili S, P. Ashok, Shiv Kumar, Vaishnavi
