Agartala, Oct 14: The High Court of Tripura has upheld a 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence in a case involving the seizure of 987 kg of cannabis (ganja), ruling that procedural lapses during investigation were not sufficient to overturn the conviction.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Dr. T. Amarnath Goud and Justice Biswajit Palit delivered the verdict on October 13, 2026, while dismissing a criminal appeal filed by Dharjya Kumar Jamatia in Dharjya Kumar Jamatia vs. State of Tripura (Criminal Appeal (J) No. 43 of 2025).
The court upheld the judgment of the Special Court (NDPS), North Tripura, Dharmanagar, which had sentenced Jamatia to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed the statutory fine.
During the appeal, the defence challenged the prosecution’s case by pointing to several alleged procedural irregularities in the investigation.
These included discrepancies in the vehicle registration details recorded in the initial First Information Report (FIR) compared with the vehicle seized at the spot.
The defence also highlighted a delay of 36 days between the seizure of the contraband samples and their delivery to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination.
Another key objection concerned the absence of proper malkhana records, which are used to document the storage and handling of seized evidence. The defence argued that the missing documentation raised questions about the chain of custody of the seized narcotics.
The High Court acknowledged concerns regarding the investigation’s record-keeping and procedural rigour but held that the deficiencies were not sufficient to invalidate the seizure or overturn the conviction.
The Bench considered the recovery of 987 kg of ganja, along with witness testimony supporting the seizure, and concluded that the prosecution had established the accused’s guilt under Section 20(b)(ii)(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which deals with offences involving commercial quantities of cannabis.
Finding no substantive infirmity in the lower court’s judgment, the High Court dismissed the appeal and upheld Jamatia’s 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence and the statutory fine.
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