In Brief
Pradeep Bachhar was convicted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for drug trafficking and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with a fine. The High Court reduced this to 12 years but retained a 2-year default sentence (for non-payment of the fine). The Supreme Court further reduced the substantive sentence to 10 years and the default sentence to 6 months, considering the appellant's poor financial circumstances and dependent family. The Court held that the ends of justice are better served through proportionate sentencing that accounts for social hardship."
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.