Two men guilty of possessing 20 kgs ganja have been sentenced to over five years' rigorous imprisonment by a Delhi court which took a lenient view of their offence considering they were remorseful.
"It appears that out of greed, they indulged in such activity may be for trial and got apprehended. I have asked the convicts personally, they are remorseful and I can see the chance of their improving their conduct and abstaining from such activity in future," Special NDPS Judge A K Kuhar said.
The court awarded five-year-and-six-months' jail term to the convicts, Mohamed Ali and Mafidul Islam, for offences under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. It also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them.
The judge noted that the convicts were now aware that if a person is apprehended for dealing in narcotics substance, he may face imprisonment of up to 10 years.
"Taking into account all the facts and circumstances and possibility that convicts will mend their ways, I intend to take a slightly lenient view. I intend to give these convicts an opportunity to fall in line with the law of the land," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, the duo were arrested on October 22, 2011 by a raiding team of Delhi Police which acted on a tip-off that West Bengal native Ali and Assam native Islam would supply ganja to a lady in south Delhi here.
The police recovered two bags from them containing white polythenes filled with the contraband substance.
During the trial, the accused had denied the allegations and later sought leniency on the ground that they were first-time offenders.
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