New Delhi: The Delhi high court has reduced the 12-year imprisonment awarded to a rickshaw-puller by two years so that he can take care of his five children. It was in 2012 that the investigating agency had found the accused, Abdul Kalam, in possession of 26 kg of ganja. There was another accused in the case, but he expired during the trial of the case. A trial court had sentenced him to 12 years in prison and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
In the appeal against the trial court judgment, the accused submitted before the high court that he was not challenging his conviction. His lawyer pleaded with the court for the reduction of the sentence and the fine, keeping in view that he was a first-time offender and has five children to take care of. Allowing his appeal, the high court said: “Taking into consideration that the recovery is of ganja and the appellant does not have any criminal antecedents, minimum sentence prescribed under the Act is 10 years. Thus, the appellant’s sentence is reduced to 10 years.”
