Chandigarh: Drug accused pleads guilty, courts let him off with minor punishment

A youth caught with 15 gm heroin has been let off by courts with merely one month and 12 days of jail time after he confessed to possessing the drug.

Dismissing Chandigarh Police’s appeal for higher sentence, a Punjab and Haryana high court bench refused to interfere with the trial court order passed in March 2019.

The police, in their appeal, had argued that undue leniency had been shown towards the accused, Naveen Katoch, a resident of Chandigarh.

The contraband recovered from the accused was more than small quantity (5 gm) and the maximum punishment under Section 21(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was 10 years, while the period already undergone, to which trial court restricted jail term was merely one month 12 days, which was “extremely inadequate”, police had contended.

“.. Special Court has rightly taken a reformative approach as in this case, respondent does not deserve punishment and merely a lesson has to be taught, which he must have got during his imprisonment of one month 12 days. Considering his young age, keeping him in for longer duration in company with hardened criminals might push him to the wrong side of the law and that approach would be counter-productive in absence of any criminal antecedents of the respondent,” the bench of justice Harkesh Manuja observed, while also referring to the 142nd Report of Law Commission titled “Concessional treatment for offenders who on their own initiative choose to plead guilty without any bargaining”.

The report states that the accused who admits to the crime cannot stand on the same pedestal as an accused who is convicted and sentenced after a full-fledged trial.

Accused was arrested in Oct 2018

It was in October 2018 that Maloya police had caught Katoch with the drug.

He had pleaded guilty and did not opt for trial. After being satisfied that the confession has been made by the accused voluntarily, the special court had held him guilty and convicted him of possession of drugs. But keeping in view the age, character and antecedents and the fact that the recovery was not of a commercial quantity, the court had sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for the period already undergone, which was one month and 12 days.

He was also ordered to pay a fine of ₹25,000. The Chandigarh Police had appealed against this order, which has now been dismissed by high court.

No minimum sentence specified under NDPS Act: HC

The court further observed the maximum sentence specified under the NDPS Act is 10 years, however, no minimum sentence has been specified under the law.

“…it would be beneficial to note that determining quantum of sentence primarily lies within the discretion of learned special court/ trial court, being more aware and sanguine about the surrounding circumstances and has the additional benefit of direct observation of the conduct of the parties. This discretion vested with the special court/ trial court shall not be interfered until from the facts of the case, it appears that the sentence awarded is extremely disproportionate to the offence of the accused,” the bench recorded, taking note of the fact that quantity of the contraband recovered was 15 gm heroin, while only drugs above 250 gm are considered commercial quantity.

It further added that the facts of the case reflected that he could at best be an end user rather than being involved in the trade of the contraband. Hence, decision of trial court to take a reformative approach was correct.