A youth has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Delhi court for possessing 161 kg of narcotic drug 'ganja'.
Special NDPS Judge M K Nagpal convicted 21-year-old Ajay for the offence under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and awarded him the minimum sentence of ten years prescribed for the offence, considering his young age and poor financial condition.
The judge also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him for carrying "huge quantity" of the contraband substance in a car with co-accused Banti, who was absconding.
"Keeping in view the young age and poverty of Ajay, he is being awarded the minimum sentence of rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years and a fine of Rs one lakh for the offence," the judge said, adding the prosecution has succeeded in proving the guilt of Ajay.
According to the prosecution, Ajay and Banti, residents of Sultanpuri in North-West Delhi, were caught by the police on the early morning of May 25, 2011, carrying eight bags full of ganja, weighing a little over 20 kg each, in a stolen car near Malviya Nagar in south Delhi.
It was a chance recovery and the narcotics cell had not received any tip-off regarding the men carrying drugs. The police was doing routine patrolling when the duo was caught carrying the banned substance in their car.
The police also said that Ajay, who was driving the car, admitted carrying 161 kg of drugs and later stated that he was doing it on Banti's instructions.
However, Ajay told the court that the police officials were falsely implicating him and they had taken his signatures on a blank paper.
The court rejected Ajay's contention, saying that there was no material on record to prove it.
"The quantity of ganja recovered in this case is a very huge quantity and the same could not have been planted by the police officials upon Ajay from their own pocket..."
Ajay had sought leniency from court on the grounds that he was young, unmarried and poor. While his mother and sister had died, his father had re-married, he said.
