The word 'conscious' is related to the mental state of a person and his knowledge about something and doesn't take the attributes of physical possession alone, the Karnataka High Court has noted.
The court made this observation while dismissing the contention of three accused in a case registered under NDPS Act that no contraband was recovered from their "conscious possession" as nothing was found on their person.
"If a bag containing contraband is found in the house of the accused, it goes without saying that the first impression of an ordinary prudent man is that it belongs to the accused and he must be aware of its contents," Justice Srinivas Harish Kumar observed, rejecting the bail petitions of Tasleem NP and Haseeb KV from Kannur and Rasique Ali P from Kozhikode.
The judge noted if the accused takes a stand that he was not aware of the contents, the burden to establish it is on him/her. The judge said since the informant had only suspected possession of drugs, police can't be expected to register a case without ascertaining the truth, and that the seizure panchnama discloses the petitioners and other accused possessed contraband for selling it.
Following a raid on June 11, 2020, drugs including ganja were seized from the house of the accused in Vinayaka Layout. They were arrested and booked under sections 20(b), 8(c), 22(b), 22(c) of NDPS Act. In addition to claiming that police did not seize any contraband from their 'conscious' possession, the accused also maintained that the qualitative and quantitative report from FSL was yet to be obtained.
However, Police claimed the contraband was found inside the house and the burden is on the accused to prove they were not aware of the bag's contents.
Source Link
Picture Source :
