In Brief
The Supreme Court dismissed the State's appeal against the High Court's acquittal of the accused in a drug trafficking case. The critical issue was the non-production of the bulk quantity of seized opium at trial. The Court held that the prosecution failed to follow Section 52-A of the NDPS Act by not filing an application with a Magistrate for destruction of the contraband. Without proper legal authority and a Magistrate's order, the destruction could not be presumed, creating serious doubt about whether the samples presented matched the original seizure. The accused's confessional statement, recorded while in custody without indicating the time, was also deemed involuntary. Combined with hostile independent witnesses, these defects rendered conviction unsafe."
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