In Brief
The appellant was convicted under Section 18 of the NDPS Act, 1985 for possessing 1 kg 750 grams of opium, which was recovered by police during a patrol on 12 September 1996. He challenged his conviction on grounds including the ASP's non-examination, incomplete chain of evidence, and lack of independent witnesses. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction, holding that non-examination of the ASP was not fatal (service was attempted), the chain of custody was intact, and official police evidence is not inherently unreliable. The Court rejected the notion of approaching police actions with distrust, affirming that guilt was proved beyond reasonable doubt.
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