Bhubaneswar: A woman was acquitted of charges for possessing foreign liquor illegally after witnesses turned hostile and the investigating officer failed to produce the seized liquor. First class judicial magistrate court here Tuesday freed the accused woman due to lack sufficient evidence.
According to the FIR filed by Balianta police February 2, 2011, Arnapurna Patra alias Mamata of Kela Sahi in Balianta was found in possession of 12 bottles of whisky after police raided her house following a tip-off.
Mamta was charged with section 47 (a) of Bihar and Orissa Excise Act.
During trial, however, one of the police witnesses, who was part of the raiding team, said she did not remember which house it was in the slum where she was residing. Another said she did not remember the number of independent witnesses standing at around 100 metre away from the house.
The investigating officer also did not remember the batch and manufacturing number of the seized bottles, neither did he produce the seizure before the court.
The officer had neither checked the liquor on the spot, nor sent it for chemical examination. He also did not bother to verify the ownership of the house from where the liquor bottles were seized.
The court, ultimately, acquitted Mamata of all charges observing that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. PNN
