In Brief
Gangaram was convicted of transporting 415 kg of poppy straw, found in his truck parked near village Palasiya. He held a licence to transport poppy straw from specified villages, but the truck was parked 18 km away from any of the licensed villages. He claimed rain prevented him from reaching the actual villages. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction under Section 8 read with Section 15(c) of the NDPS Act, holding that transportation of poppy straw in violation of licence conditions falls under Section 15, not the lighter offence under Section 26. The court affirmed the mandatory 10-year sentence despite the appellant having already served 8 years.
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