Delhi District Court
State vs Pooja Devi on 23 July, 2025
CR Cases 670/2020 State Vs. Pooja Devi
IN THE COURT OF MR. CHATINDER SINGH, JMFC-04,
SOUTH DISTRICT, SAKET COURTS, DELHI.
FIR No. : 33/2019
U/s : 33 The Delhi Excise Act, 2009
P.S. : Sangam Vihar
State Vs. Pooja Devi
a) CNR No. of the Case : DLST020039992020
b) Name & address of the : Ct. Chander Prakash, Belt no. 3530/SD,
complainant PS Sangam Vihar, South District, Delhi.
c) Name & address of : Smt. Pooja Devi
Accused W/o Sh. Sibbu
R/o House no. H. No.278/4, Sangam Vihar,
New Delhi
d) Date of Commission of : 31.01.2019
offence
e) Offence complained of : 33 The Delhi Excise Act, 2009
f) Plea of the accused : Pleaded not guilty.
g) Final Order : Acquitted
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CR Cases 670/2020 State Vs. Pooja Devi
Date of Institution : 12.02.2020
Final arguments heard on : 17.07.2025
Judgment Pronounced on : 23.07.2025
BRIEF FACTS AND REASONS FOR DECISION OF THE CASE
1. Vide this judgment the accused namely Pooja Devi W/o Sh. Sibbu is being
acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 33 Delhi Excise Act, 2009
in this case FIR No. 33/2019 police station Sangam Vihar by giving benefit
of doubt for the reasons mentioned below.
CASE OF PROSECUTION
2. Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution as unfolded by the police report
under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter
referred to as ‘Cr.P.C‘) is that on 31.01.2019 at about 06:50 PM at J-1st near
H. No. 278, Gali No.4, Sangam Vihar, New Delhi within the jurisdiction of
police station Sangam Vihar, the accused was apprehended by complainant/
Ct. Chandra Prakash upon suspicion while the complainant was on
patrolling duty. As per the prosecution story the accused was apprehended in
possession of 32 quarter bottles of illicit without any permit or license of
National Capital Territory of Delhi in contravention of notification issued by
Gov. of NCT of Delhi.
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COURT PROCEEDINGS
3. Upon completion of investigation, police report under Section 173 of the
Cr.P.C. was filed and the accused was consequently summoned vide order
dated 12.02.2020.
4. The copies of the police report and annexed documents were supplied to the
accused in due compliance of Section 207 Cr.P.C.
CHARGE
5. Vide order dated 05.11.2022 passed by Ld. Predecessor Court, charge for the
offence punishable under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act was framed
against the accused to which she pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
ADMISSION/DENIAL OF DOCUMENTS
6. Vide order dated 31.01.2025, in compliance of the provisions of Section 294
Cr.P.C., the accused was called upon to admit/deny the FIR No. 33/2019
Police Station Sangam Vihar, certificate under Section 65B of Indian
Evidence Act, GD number 38 A dated 31.01.2019, RC No.146/21/19 dated
08.03.2019, Excise Lab report dated 15.04.2019 and Entry no.1633 in
register no.19, which she admitted and the same were accordingly exhibited
as Ex. A-1 to Ex. A-6 respectively. In view of the admission made, the
evidence of DO/ASI Vijay, Sh. Rajesh Joshi, Dy. chemical examiner and Sh.
Anil Kumar, Asst. Chemical Examiner was dispensed with, being admitted
by the accused.
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CR Cases 670/2020 State Vs. Pooja Devi EVIDENCE OF THE PROSECUTION
7. To prove its case, the prosecution in all examined three witnesses.
a. PW-1 Ct. Chandra Prakash deposed that on 31.01.2019 he was posted at
PS Sangam Vihar as Constable and on that day he was on beat patrolling
duty on foot. He further deposed that when he reached at J-1, Near H.
No. 278, Gali No.4, Sangam Vihar and was passing through the said
house, then he saw a lady who was selling illicit liquor who upon seeing
him got scared and tried to run away. He further deposed that he stopped
her and asked as to the contents of the white katta. He further deposed
that thereafter, he gave the information of the same to the DO of PS
Sangam Vihar. He further deposed that in sometime IO/HC Vijender
along-with W/Ct. Meera reached the spot and thereafter he handed over
the accused and case property to the IO. He further deposed that on
interrogation the accused name was revealed as Pooja Devi W/o Sh.
Sibbu. He further deposed that upon checking the contents of the katta
the IO found total 32 quarter bottles of illicit liquor having label of
Santra Masaledar Desi Sharab for sale in Haryana Only. He further
deposed that thereafter the IO took out one quarter bottle as sample and
remaining quarter bottles were placed back in white katta and he sealed
the sample bottles with cloth on neck and the remaining bottles in katta
with the seal of ‘SGV5SED’. He further deposed that he also filled form
M-29. He further deposed that thereafter the IO prepared the seizure
memo exhibited as Ex. PW-1/A. and thereafter the IO prepared the rukka
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and handed over the rukka to him, for registration of FIR. He further
deposed that thereafter he went to the PS and came back to the spot in
sometime and handed over the copy of FIR and original rukka to the IO.
He also deposed that IO prepared site plan at his instance. He further
deposed that he along-with the other police officials and the case property
returned to the PS. PW-1 correctly identified the accused in the court and
the case property from the samples and photographs brought by the
MHC(M).
b. PW-2 W/Ct. Meera deposed that on 31.01.2019 while she was posted at
PS Sangam Vihar as W/Ct., DD entry number 38A was marked to IO/HC
Vijender whereupon she along-with the IO went to the spot i.e. H. No.
278, J-1st, Sangam Vihar, New Delhi where they met Ct. Chander
Prakash and accused. She further deposed that thereafter the IO enquired
from the lady her name which she revealed as Pooja Devi. She further
deposed that IO gave custody of accused to her. She further deposed that
thereafter the IO checked the case property 32 quarter bottles of illicit
liquor each having label of Rasbhara Santra Masaledar for sale in
Haryana only. She further deposed that thereafter the IO took out one
sample bottle from each plastic katta and sealed the same with the seal of
SGV5SED. She further deposed that thereafter the case property was
seized vide seizure memo and the accused was joined in investigation.
She further deposed that thereafter the IO prepared the rukka on the
statement of Ct. Chander Prakash and handed over to him for registration
of FIR whereupon Ct. Chander Prakash went to the PS and after
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sometime returned to the spot along-with copy of FIR and original
rukka. She further deposed that IO also prepared the site plan and bound
down the accused vide notice under Section 41A Cr.P.C and recorded her
disclosure statement. She lastly deposed that thereafter they all came
back to the PS and the case property was deposited in the malkhana.
PW-2 correctly identified the case property and the accused in the Court.
c. PW-3 IO/ HC Vijender deposed that on 31.01.2019, he was posted at as
HC at PS Sangam Vihar and he received the investigation of this case
after receipt of DD number 38A. He further deposed that thereafter he
alongwith W/ct. Meera reached at the spot i.e.H. No. J Block, Gal No.4,
Sangam Vihar, New Delhi and there he met Ct. Chander Prakash who
handed over the accused alongwith illicit liquor to him. He further
deposed that he gave the custody of the accused to W/Ct. Meera. He
further deposed that the name of accused was revealed as Pooja. He
further deposed that then he checked the plastic cartons which were
found containing 32 quarter bottles of illicit liquors having label of
Rashbhara Santra for sale in Haryana only. He deposed that he sealed
the case property with the seal of SGV5SED. He further deposed
regarding the seizure of sample case property. He further deposed that he
prepared rukka and handed over the same to Ct. Chander Prakash for
registration of FIR. He further deposed that he also prepared the site plan
at the instance of Ct. Chander Prakash which was Ex.PW3/B. He further
deposed that thereafter he served a notice upon the accused and
deposited the case property in the malkhana. He further deposed that he
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CR Cases 670/2020 State Vs. Pooja Devi
along-with other police officials came back to the PS and case property
was deposited in the Malkhana. He deposed that he recorded the
statement of witnesses under Section 161 CrPC.
d. Thereupon, on oral statement of Ld. APP for the State the PE was closed
vide order dated 31.01.2025 and matter was fixed for statement of
accused.
STATEMENT / DEFENCE OF THE ACCUSED
8. In her examination recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C dated 31.01.2025, the
defence of the accused was that of denial. She categorically stated that she is
innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. She further
stated that she was not present at the spot and no recovery has been effected
from her. The accused did not lead any evidence in her defence.
ARGUMENTS
9. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for the State addressed pertinent
arguments. He submitted that the accused as well as the case property have
been correctly identified by the witnesses. He stated that link evidence is
also available. He urged that the case has been proved beyond doubt against
the accused and prayed for conviction of the accused.
10.On the other hand, Ms. Asha, learned counsel for the accused submitted that
the accused has been falsely implicated by the police and nothing was
recovered from her possession. She submitted that the absence of public
witnesses to the alleged recovery is fatal to the case of the prosecution,
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inconsistency in timelines provided by the police officials and that the IO
did not prepare any seal handover memo and thus prayed for acquittal of the
accused.
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
11.The record has been thoroughly and carefully perused. The respective
submissions of the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for the State and
learned counsel for the accused have been considered.
Charge under Section 33 Delhi Excise Act
12.With respect to the charge under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act, the case
of the prosecution is that on the fateful day the accused was found in
possession of illicit liquor without any permit or licence. In order to bring
home the charge against the accused, the prosecution was required to prove
beyond reasonable doubt the recovery of illicit liquor from the possession of
the accused.
Re: Absence of independent witnesses
13. Evidently, no public witness to the recovery of the liquor has been either
cited in the list of witnesses or examined by the prosecution. The recovery is
alleged to have been effected from a residential area. The spot of recovery as
per the site plan Ex. PW-1/C was located on a main road and has several
houses in the neighbour-hood. Further, as per the site plan, the spot of
recovery was H. No278, J-1st Block, which, according to the site plan, is
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surrounded on all sides by commercial spaces and residential colony. The
place of recovery and apprehension of the accused is, therefore, clearly
located in an area where public persons would be readily available. The
apprehension and recovery were allegedly made at about 06.50 PM in the
month of January, wherein it cannot be said that there would have been no
public persons present at the spot. Moreover, the PWs have also not denied
the presence of public persons at the spot. Thus, at the place and time of the
alleged recovery of illicit liquor and apprehension of the accused, public
persons would in all likelihood have been present and available or have at
least passed by the spot. It is not the case of the prosecution that no public
person was present at or near the spot of arrest and recovery.
14.It is further pertinent to note that PW-1 to PW-3 in their cross-examination,
stated that there were public persons nearby the place of incident and they
had asked them to join the investigation but all of them refused. PWs
admittedly had not given any notice to the said persons upon their refusal to
join the investigation. PW-1 to PW-3 in their cross-examination stated that
they did ask certain public persons to join the proceedings however public
persons refused citing reasons. Further, PW-1 to PW-3 stated that no public
witness came join the investigation. However, neither of them stated the
description of the persons who had allegedly refused to join the
investigation. Further, there is nothing on record to show that PW-1 to PW-3
had served any notice under Section 160 Cr.P.C. upon the persons who
refused to join the investigation. Thus, the prosecution has failed to prove
that any serious effort was made by PW-1 to PW-3 to join public witnesses
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in the proceedings. From a perusal of the record, no serious effort for joining
public witnesses appears to have been made. It is a well-settled proposition
that non-joining of public witness shrouds doubt over the fairness of the
investigation by police. Section 100(4) of Cr.P.C also casts a statutory duty
on an official conducting search to join two respectable persons of the
society. Same has not been done in the present case. This casts a doubt on
the fairness of the investigation. Reliance is placed on paragraph 6 of the
judgment in Pawan Kumar v. The Delhi Administration, 1989 Cri.L.J.
127, wherein the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi had observed as under:
” … According to Jagbir Singh, he did not join any public
witness in the case while according to Kalam Singh, no
public person was present there. It hardly stands to reason
that at a place like a bus stop near Subhas Bazar, there
would be no person present at a crucial time like 07.30
p.m. when there is a lot of rush of commuters for boarding
the buses to their respective destinations. Admittedly, there
is no impediment in believing the version of the Police
officials but for that the prosecution has to lay a good
foundation. At least one of them should deposed that they
tried to contact the public witnesses or that they refused to
join the investigation. Here is a case where no effort was
made to join any public witness even though number of
them were present. No plausible explanation from the side
of the prosecution is forthcoming for not joining the
independent witnesses in a case of serious nature like the
present one. It may be that there is an apathy on the part
of the general public to associate themselves with the
Police raids or the recoveries but that apart, at least the
I.O. should have made an earnest effort to join the
independent witnesses. No attempt in this direction
appears to have been made and this, by itself, is a
circumstance throwing doubt on the arrest or the recovery
of the knife from the person of the accused.”
15.This Court is, however, conscious that the prosecution case cannot be
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thrown out or doubted on the sole ground of non-joining of public witnesses
as public witnesses keep themselves away from the Court unless it is
inevitable, as has been held in Appabhai and another v. State of Gujarat,
AIR 1988 SC 696. However, in the present case, it is not only the absence of
public witnesses which raises a doubt on the prosecution but there are other
circumstances too, as discussed hereinafter, which raise suspicion over the
prosecution version.
Re: Departure entry not proved
16.The present case rests entirely on the alleged recovery of case property, i.e.
illicit liquor, from the possession of the accused at the relevant time by a
single police official, who was on patrolling duty at the relevant time and
place, as per the prosecution story. Police officials are under a statutory duty
to mark their departure and arrival in the register kept in the police station
for the purpose as per the Punjab Police Rules. It is relevant here to
reproduce Chapter 22 Rule 49 of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, which reads
as under:
“22.49 Matters to be entered in Register No. II- The
following matters shall, amongst others, be entered:
(c) The hour of arrival and departure on duty at or from a
police station of all enrolled police officers of whatever
rank, whether posted at the police station or elsewhere,
with a statement of the nature of their duty. This entry shall
be made immediately on arrival or prior to the departure
of the officer concerned and shall be attested by the latter
personally by signature or seal.
Note: The term Police Station will include all places such
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as Police Lines and Police Posts where Register No. II is
maintained.”
17. Since public persons were not joined in the investigation, the departure
entry of the aforesaid police officials namely Ct. Chander Prakash, who was
allegedly on patrolling duty at the relevant time and had apprehended the
accused with case property, becomes a vital piece of evidence. No such daily
diary entry regarding departure of PW-1 is, however, present on record.
Despite of cross-examination of the witnesses qua the said departure entries
by the witnesses the prosecution was not able to bring on record any proof of
the said entries, and the same is indispensable as the present case rests solely
on the alleged recovery made by the aforesaid police official.
18. As per prosecution case, Ct. Chander Prakash was in the area at the relevant
time and after apprehension of the accused with alleged property returned to
the PS. The DD entries in register No II are neither showing departure nor
arrival entries of the said official and the same could have been proved by
the prosecution. However, the DD entries regarding return of the police
officials have not been proved nor the DD number of the arrival entry has
been brought on record. It needs to be appreciated that the said arrival entry
of the police officials would have come in handy in establishing the
timelines of the case and corroborating the same with the testimonies of the
police witnesses, but for the reasons best known to the IO the same have not
been placed on record. When the provisions of law are not strictly complied
with the same can be said to be done with oblique motive and are to be seen
with reservation as has been held by Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in Rattan
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CR Cases 670/2020 State Vs. Pooja Devi
Lal v State, 1987(2) Crimes29. In the instant case also, failure of
prosecution to bring on record the aforesaid DD entry casts shadow on the
prosecution case as whole case rests on the alleged recovery from the
accused.
Re: Possibility of misuse of seal of the investigating officer
19. As per the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, the sample of liquor and
case property were sealed by the investigating officer with the seal of
‘SGV5SED’. However, the PWs have not deposed qua the handing over of
the said seals to any other witness or police official and no handing over
memo regarding the same was prepared. The seal in the present case was not
handed over to any independent witness nor was it deposited in the
malkhana to assail the possibility of its misuse. Thus, the possibility that the
case property may have been tampered with cannot be ruled out.
Re: Other infirmities in the prosecution case
20. It further needs to be appreciated that after preparing the rukka IO sent Ct.
Chander Prakash for registration of FIR to the PS, however, admittedly
seizure memo Ex. PW-1/A has been prepared by IO prior to sending the
Constable to the PS for registration of FIR. It is, therefore, clear that the
seizure memos of the liquor must have been prepared at the spot before the
rukka was sent to the police station for registration of the FIR. A perusal of
the seizure memo reveals that it contains the FIR details, thus raising a valid
doubt in the mind of this court as to how it was made before the FIR was
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lodged and still contained the FIR details. Accordingly, it follows that the
number of the FIR would have come to the knowledge of the investigating
officer only after a copy of the FIR was brought to the spot by Ct. Chander
Prakash. Thus, ordinarily, the FIR number should not find mention in the
seizure memo, which came into existence before registration of the FIR.
However, interestingly, the seizure memo Ex. PW-1/A bear the FIR number
and case details in the same ink and the same handwriting in which the said
documents are prepared. The same indicates that FIR number was mentioned
on the said documents while preparing the same. Reliance here is placed on
the decision of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in Pawan Kumar v. The
Delhi Administration, 1989 Cri. L.J. 127, wherein it was observed
paragraph 5 as under:
“… Learned counsel for the State concedes that
immediately after the arrest of the accused, his personal
search was effected and the memo Ex. PW11/D was
prepared. Thereafter, the sketch plan of the knife was
prepared in the presence of the witnesses. After that, the
ruqa EX. PW11/F was sent to the Police Station for the
registration of the case on the basis of which the FIR,
PW11/G was recorded. The F.I.R. is numbered as 36, a
copy of which was sent to the I.O. after its registration. It
comes to that the number of F.I.R. 36 came to the
knowledge of the I.O. after a copy of it was delivered to
him at the spot by a constable. In the normal
circumstances, the F.I.R. No. should not find mention in the
recovery memo or the sketch plan which had come into
existence before the registration of the case. However, from
the perusal of the recovery memo, I find that the FIR is
mentioned whereas the sketch plan does not show the
number of the FIR. It is not explained as to how and under
what circumstances the recovery memo came to bear the
F.I.R. No. which had already come into existence before
the registration of the case. These are few of theFIR No. 33/2019 Page No. 14/17
CR Cases 670/2020 State Vs. Pooja Devicircumstances which create a doubt, in my mind, about the
genuineness of the weapon of offence alleged to have been
recovered from the accused.”
21.In paragraph 4 of Mohd. Hashim v. State, 1999 VI AD (Delhi) 569, the
Hon’ble High Court of Delhi observed:
“… Surprisingly, the secret information (Ex. PW7/A)
received by the Sub-Inspector Narender Kumar Tyagi (PW-
7), the notice under Section 50 of the Act (Ex. PW5/A)
alleged to have been served on the appellant, the seizure
memo (Ex. PW1/A) and the report submitted under Section
57 of the Act (Ex. PW7/D) bear the number of the FIR (Ex.
PW4/B). The number of the FIR (Ex. PW4/B) given on the
top of the aforesaid documents is in the same ink and in the
same handwriting, which clearly indicates that these
documents were prepared at the same time. The
prosecution has not offered any explanation as to under
what circumstance number of the FIR (Ex. PW4/B) had
appeared on the top of the aforesaid documents, which
were allegedly prepared on the spot. This gives rise to two
inferences that either the FIR (Ex. PW4/B) was recorded
prior to the alleged recovery of the contraband or number
of the said FIR was inserted in these documents after its
registration. In both the situations, it seriously reflects
upon the veracity of the prosecution version and creates a
good deal of doubt about recovery of the contraband in the
manner alleged by the prosecution.”
22.In the instant case as well, no explanation has been furnished on record as to
how the FIR number and case details have appeared on the seizure memos
Ex. PW-1/A. The same leads one to only one inference that either the said
documents were prepared later or that the FIR had been registered earlier in
point of time or that the IO never joined the investigation at the spot and
every part of the investigation was done by him while sitting at the PS as
alleged by the defence. In both the aforesaid cases a dent is created and
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unexplained holes are left in the prosecution story, the benefit of which must
accrue to the accused.
23. Furthermore, the testimony of PW-1 to PW-3 also reveals that there are
several inconsistencies regarding the preparation of seal handover memo or
return memo.
24. Another important aspect that needs to be appreciated is, no photography or
videography of the accused with the case property has been made.
Moreover, none of the witnesses other than PW-1 were able to tell the
approximate time when Ct. Chander Prakash was sent to the PS for
registration of FIR thus raising suspicion about their presence at the spot of
recovery itself. Thus, raising sufficient questions regarding the nature and
manner in which the investigation was carried out by the IO.
25.Furthermore, another important aspect that cannot be sidelined merely as an
irregularity is that the recovery witness was alone when he made a recovery
from the possession of the female accused but no effort has been shown on
record to join any public person or female individual before making a
cursory search of the belongings of the accused.
CONCLUSION
26.The facts that no independent witness was cited or examined, daily diary
entry regarding departure of PW-1 has not been proved, possibility of misuse
of seal has not been ruled out and the appearance of FIR number and case
particulars on the seizure memos has not been explained, when kept in
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juxtaposition to each other, cast a cloud of suspicion over the prosecution
version. In view of the aforesaid, the possibility of false implication of the
accused in the present case cannot be ruled out.
27.It is trite in criminal jurisprudence that the prosecution is under an obligation
to prove its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The standard
of proof to be adopted in criminal cases is not merely of preponderance of
probabilities but proof beyond reasonable doubt on the basis of cogent,
convincing and reliable evidence. It is also well settled that in case of doubt,
the benefit must necessarily be allowed to the accused.
28.Thus, in view of the foregoing analysis, this Court is of the considered
opinion that the benefit of doubt ought to be granted to the accused, who is
entitled to be exonerated of the charges against her in the present case. The
accused is hereby acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 33 of
the Delhi Excise Act. Case property be confiscated to State as per rules.
29.File be consigned to record room. Digitally
signed by
CHATINDER
CHATINDER SINGH
SINGH Date:
Announced in the open Court 2025.07.23
17:06:19
+0530
today i.e. on 23rd July, 2025 (Chatinder Singh)
Judicial Magistrate First Class-04
South /Saket Court/New Delhi
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