CHENNAI: A Special NDPS Court in Chennai has acquitted a 41-year-old man from West Bengal in a ganja possession case, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. The accused, Mohammed Abdul Alim, was arrested in March 2023 near East Tambaram after police allegedly seized 30kg of ganja from two bags based on a tip-off. A forensic report later confirmed the presence of cannabinoids in the samples.
However, the court found serious lapses in the prosecution’s case. It noted contradictions in the testimonies of police personnel regarding the arrest and seizure. It also flagged that the prosecution failed to establish whether the accused understood Hindi, though crucial procedures were explained in that language.
The court further pointed to a 27-day delay in producing the seized contraband before the court, with no records to establish safe custody. The absence of independent witnesses, non-production of travel documents, and inconsistencies in describing the seized bags added to the doubts. It also drew an adverse inference against the prosecution for failing to produce CCTV footage.
Observing that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond reasonable doubt, the court acquitted the accused under Section 235(1) CrPC. It ordered destruction of the contraband and directed that the accused’s mobile phone be returned.