In Brief
An appellant was convicted of illegally possessing sandalwood oil without a transit licence under the Kerala Forest Act. The Sessions Court acquitted him, accepting that his Central Excise manufacturing licence and documented evidence of raw material procurement established lawful possession. The High Court reversed the acquittal. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that Section 27(1)(d) requires proof of conscious knowledge of illicit origin beyond reasonable doubt. The presumption under Section 69 concerns only ownership, not culpable mental state. The State failed to prove the foundational fact of illicit procurement. Seizure alone does not establish guilty knowledge.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.