Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 29: Principal Sessions Judge Udhampur, A K Koul today awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs 1 lakh each to two accused namely Nirmal Singh, son of Gurmeet Singh and Arif Amin, who were arrested along with 55 kilograms of charas on March 8, 2011.
After hearing PP Navneet Gupta appearing for the State whereas Advocate Gulshan Singh appearing for the prosecution, Principal Sessions Judge observed, “one of the difficult tasks in criminal justice system is the process of sentencing. Generally punishment has to be proportionate to the crime committed unless there are some mitigating circumstances. So far as the instant case is concerned the accused have been found transporting a commercial quantity of charas to some unknown destination”.
“Trafficking in drugs is on rise and country has been enduring the scourge of drug trafficking for three decades now. The trends and patterns of drug trafficking in the country demonstrate that there is a gradual shift from traditional /natural drugs towards synthetic drugs that are being trafficked and consumed in the country. It is high time to formulate a multi pronged strategy to curb drug trafficking because India is located in the proximity of drug producing areas”, the Court said.
“There are enough stringent laws to punish the drug traffickers, cultivators, possessors and users but such people usually manage to escape punishment by taking undue advantage of technicalities of law. So the investigating agency has an onerous duty to ensure a fool proof investigation so that the culprits do not go escort free. The accused have committed a grave crime probably with the idea of growing millionaire over night”, the Court said, adding “one of the accused is around 55 year old and another is only 20. Ordinarily they do not deserve any leniency because the crime committed by them has a devastating effect on the entire society particularly the young generation but keeping in view their age and the family background the ends of justice would be met with if a lenient view is taken against them”.
With these observations, court awarded rigorous imprisonment for 10 years to both the smugglers.
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