LexBALBIR SINGH versus STATE
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A BALBIR SINGH v. STATE SEPTEMBER 26, 1996 B (DR. A.S. ANAND AND K.T. THOMAS, JJ.) Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Ac~ 1987: S.5-->4ccused found in possession of unauthorised rifle and 161 live C cartridges in notified are~Trial by Special Court-Conviction and sentence of 8 years R.L awarded-Appeal-Conviction challenged on the grounds that identity of rifle found in possession of accused was rendered doubtful in as ' much as some witnesses described the rifle as AK 47 whereas other descnoed it as AK 56 and that the police did not examine any independent wit- ness:-Held, descn"bing the rifle as AK 47 or AK 56 is not of much conse- D quent~There is no doubt from the prosecution evidence that the rifle which was ,;covered from the possession of the accused was the rifle marlced as Ext. D-1 bearing no. 516275-Witnesses relating to recovery identified the weapon--Besides, accused was found in possession of 161 live cartridges and this recovery would itself attract provisions of s.5:-Evidence of witnesses E cannot be said to be tainted merely because they belong to police force-They had no reason to falsely implicate the accused-They have stood the test of cross examination-:Rep01t of Central Forensic Science Laboratory lends enough corroboration to their evidence---rlccused was arrested from the park and some persons who were looking from a distance did not come at the spot-In the circumstances noi joining any of these persons as witnesses F cannot affect the credit worthiness of prosecution case-There is ample evidence that accused was in conscious possession of unauthorised rifle and 161 live cartridges in notified area-Conviction upheld-Accused being 20 years of age, sentence redu~ed to 6 years' R.L , G Sanjay Dutt v. State, [1994) S sec 410, followed. Paras Ram v. State of Haryana, [1992) 4 SCC 662, held no longer a good law on interpretation of "arms and ammunition". CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 1 H 641 of 1996. 50 - BALBIR SINGH v. STAIB 51 From the Judgment and Order dated 14.2.96 of the Designated Court A in Session Case No. 14 of 1993. Goodwill Indeevar, Sant Lal Nayar and P.S. Sharma for the Appel- lant. Mrs. K. Amareshwari, Shambhu Pd. Singh and B. Krishna Prasad for B the Respondent. The following Order of the Court was delivered : This appeal under section 19 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Ac- tivities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (hereinafter called the 'TADA') is directed C against the Judgment and order dated 14th February, 1996 by which the appellant has been convicted for an offence under section 5 of TADA and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for eight years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000 and in default to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. D The prosecution case against the appellant is that on 6th April, 1992, PW.1 H.C. Maru Ram, who was incharge of PCR Van No. Victor 79, Maruti Gypsy bearing registration No. DDV 6920 based in Kailash Colony, alongwith constable Chander Pal and driver constable Raj Kumar, received a wireless message at about 2.05 p.m. to the effect that a person wearing E green coloured pant, green coloured shoes and having a green coloured bag was present in suspicious circumstances and that if his bag was searched it might show presence of some contraband. On receipt of this information PW.1 alongwith the other members of the police party proceeded towards Relax Restaurant. On reaching Relax Restaurant, an F enquiry was made from the owner of the Restaurant if he had seen any person with that description but he replied in the negative. In the meantime it was noticed that the appellant was sitting in a park at a short distance. He was wearing green coloured shoes, green coloured pant and had a green coloured bag with him. The police party reached near him. He became perplexed and tried to open the bag. He was however over- G powered. Constable Chander Pal, PW.2 snatched the bag from the appel- lant. On checking the bag, a rifle and some cartridges besides and empty megazine and megazine containing live, cartridges, fitted with the rifle were recovered. The appellant alongwith the seized articles was proceeded towards P.S. Greater Kailash and at the gate of the ~olice Station, S.I. H 52 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] SUPP. 7 S.C.R. A Sukhbir Singh and Constable Partkaj met the police party. The bag con- taining 137 live cartridges and the megazine fitted with t
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