New Delhi, Dec 18: A Delhi court has awarded two persons a rigorous jail term of 10 years for possessing 126 kgs of ganja, a contraband substance.
Special NDPS Judge Rajesh Kumar Singh also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on each of the convicts while holding them guilty of the offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The court, while awarding the minimum jail term to convicts Pramod Kumar Padhan, 26, and Prashant Kumar Padhan, 30, took a lenient view considering they were first time offenders and deserved a chance to reform.
“Considering their age and family background, they deserve an opportunity to reform themselves and therefore, I am inclined to award them the minimum sentence under the NPDS Act,” the judge said.
According to the prosecution, both the men were arrested in 2013 after the police conducted a raid on receiving a tip off that they were engaged in procuring and supplying the substance.
The convicts, natives of Orissa, were caught possessing 126 kg of ganja near Mehrauli in south Delhi.
However, during the trial, the convicts had denied the allegations levelled against them.
The prosecution had sought maximum punishment of 20 years for them on the ground that drug trafficking cases were on the rise in the country and they deserved to be dealt with sternly. (PTI)
