PHAGWARA: A Special Court heaed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Aprajita Joshi in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar has convicted and sentenced Narinder Singh alias Nindi to 12 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, with a further one-year term in default, for possession of commercial quantity of contraband under Section 22 of the NDPS Act.
The case stemmed from an FIR registered at PS Balachaur in August 2019 when police, acting on secret information, intercepted the accused carrying a black bag containing 100 Buprenorphine injections (Leegesic, totaling 200 ml, far above the 20-gram threshold for commercial quantity) along with 100 Pheniramine injections. The recovery was effected in the presence of a DSP and the sealed parcels were produced before the Magistrate and later confirmed by forensic analysis.
Rejecting the defence plea of false implication, delay in FSL deposit, and non-compliance with Section 50 NDPS Act, Judge Aprajita Joshi held that the contraband was recovered from a bag, not from personal search, and that procedural safeguards including sealing and production before the Magistrate were duly followed. The court observed that non-joining of independent witnesses was not fatal when police testimony was consistent and credible.
While the convict sought leniency citing poverty and family hardship, the court underscored that “drugs destroy lives, drain potential and devastate families” and stressed the need for stern punishment in drug cases. The judgment, pronounced on Tuesday directed that the period already undergone in custody be set off under Section 428 CrPC and the case property disposed of as per rules after the appeal period.