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During the hearing of a petition filed by Gurtej Singh Batth challenging a judgment passed in 2014, the Delhi High Court Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar reiterated that proceedings constituted under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, 1985 would stand vitiated if the same person acts as the Investigating Officer (IO) and the complainant. In the judgment of 2014, the petitioner GS Batth was convicted under NDPS Act and hence, sentenced to 10 yrs rigorous imprisonment.
The petitioner has now claimed innocence and has also advanced the argument that the proceedings stand vitiated because the IO was the complainant relying on the judgments in the case of Mohan Lal v State of Punjab and Arif Khan v State of Uttarakhand.
The Court ruled in favor of the petitioner, allowing his appeal, considering the law laid down in the case of Mohan Lal. It observed that, “In view of the law laid down in Mohan Lal, the fact that PW 1 Rajendra Verma was IO, as well as the complainant, completely vitiated the proceedings in the present case.”
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