IQBAL KHAN vs STATE
This criminal appeal arises from a judgment of the Special Court-I (Control of Narcotic Substances) at Karachi, wherein the appellant, Iqbal Khan, was convicted under Section 6/9-C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, and sentenced to life imprisonment for the alleged recovery of 5000 Kgs of charas from a container parked in a godown where the appellant worked as a chowkidar (watchman). The core legal question is whether knowledge and conscious possession of narcotics can be attributed solely on the basis of employment as a chowkidar of the premises where the contraband was found, in the absence of any incriminating evidence or recovery from the accused. The Sindh High Court held that since no narcotics were recovered from the appellant, no investigation linked him to the main accused smugglers, and mere status as a chowkidar without proof of knowledge does not establish guilt, the appellant was entitled to the benefit of the doubt. The court laid down the principle that mere physical presence or employment at premises where narcotics are recovered is insufficient for conviction under the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, without proof of knowledge or conscious possession.
- Whether knowledge of concealed narcotics can be attributed to a godown chowkidar merely due to his employment at the premises?
- Can a conviction under Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 be sustained without proof connecting the accused to the recovered contraband?
- Is mere presence or employment at the site of a narcotics recovery sufficient to establish conscious possession?
- Section 6/9-C, Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997
ORDER
1. The case of the prosecution in the FIR No, 15 of 2008 under Section 6/9-C, Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, registered at P.S. ANF-I, Karachi, was that police received spy information that several international narcotic smugglers namely Mushtaq, Rashid, Khuramzeb, Lal Badshah, Bilal, Tariq and Naeemullah intend to smu ggle huge quantity of charas that is hidden in container No, GESU4206355 loaded on trailer No, P-6168 in the guise of rice bags. The trailer came from Peshawar and was parked in Godown No, F-713, SITE area, Metrovel, Karachi. Upon receipt of such information, raid was conducted, where the police functionaries found the present. appellant Iqbal Khan, who disclosed that he is Chowkidar of the Godown. He also disclosed to the police that the owner of the Godown is Tariq Khan, and the.trailer was driven by Lal Badshah. The appellant further disclosed that Tariq Khan has other partners namely Mushtaq, Rashid, Khuramzeb, Bilal, and Naeemullah. Upon personal search of the present appellant, only his personal belongings were recovered. Thereafter the lock of the container which was loaded on the trailer was broken and from the internal cavities 200 blue colour nylon bags were recovered. In all 5000 Kgs of Charts was recovered from these bags.
2. The appellant was tried by Special Court-I (Control of Narcotic Substances) at,Karachi and was convicted to suffer life imprisonment.
3. Counsel for the appellant argued that the appellant was only Chowkidar of the Godown and nothing was brought in evidence to show that he was aware that the narcotic substance was hidden in the container nor the knowledge could be attributed to the appellant with regard to the narcotic substance.
4. On the other hand, Special Prosecutor for ANF contended that since the narcotic substance was recovered from the trailer parked in the Godown which was under the charge of the Chowkidar, therefore, the appellant is directly involved with the commission of the crime and he was rightly convicted by the trial Court.
5. At the trial two witnesses were examined by the prosecution.
6. The persons who are stated to have attempted to smuggle the narcotic substance, though are nominated in the FIR, but none of them were arrested. Nothing was recovered from the present appellant who was Chowkidar of the Godown nor on his pointation the narcotic substance was recovered from the hidden cavities of the container. The record also does not show that any investigation was made to find out the accused smugglers or to connect the appellant with the narcotic substance. Both the witnesses deposed what has been stated in the FIR i,e, the appellant was Chowkidar of the Godown. No other piece of evidence was brought on record to connect the present appellant with the narcotic substance, hence the benefit of doubt should have been extended to the appellant.
7. Under the above facts and circumstances of the case, we, therefore, set-aside the impugned judgment and allow this appeal. The appellant Iqbal Khan was brought to this Court in the present case shall be returned back to the Central Prison, Karachi, and thereafter he shall be released if not required in any other case.