2023 SCMR 139
In the cases of 9(c) of CNSA, it is duty of the prosecution to establish each and every step from the stage of recovery, making of sample parcels, safe custody of sample parcels and safe transmission of the sample parcels to the concerned laboratory. This chain has to be established by the prosecution and if any link is missing in such like offences the benefit must have been extended to the accused.
2022 SCMR 2149 2022 SCMR 2121 2022 SCMR 2105 2022 SCMR 2093
Possession of narcotics --- Safe custody of the recovered substance and its safe transmission from the local police station to the office of the Chemical Examiner not established by the prosecution --- In a case containing the said defect on the part of the prosecution , it cannot be held with any degree of certainty that the prosecution had succeeded in establishing its case against an accused person beyond the shadow of doubt.
2022 S C M R 1641
Possession of narcotics---Safe custody and safe transmission of samples to the Forensic Science Laboratory---Significance---Representative samples of the alleged drug must be kept in safe custody and undergo safe transmission from the stage of recovery till its submission to the office of the Government analyst---Non-establishing the said facts would cast doubt and would impair and vitiate the conclusions and reliability of the report of the Government analyst, thus rendering it incapable of sustaining conviction. The chain of custody of sample parcels begins from the recovery of the narcotics by the police including the separation of representative samples of the recovered narcotics, their dispatch to the MaIkhana and further dispatch to the testing laboratory. The said chain of custody and transmission was pivotal as the entire construct of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 (Act of 1997) and the Control of Narcotic Substances (Government Analysts) Rules, 2001 (Rules 2001), rest upon the report of the analyst. It is prosecutions bounden duty that such chain of custody must be safe and secure because the report of chemical examiner enjoined critical importance under the Act of 1997, and the chain of custody ensures the reaching of correct representative samples to the office of chemical examiner. Any break in the chain of custody i.e. the safe custody or safe transmission of the representative samples, makes the report of chemical examiner worthless and un-reliable for justifying conviction of the accused. Such lapse on the part of the prosecution would cast doubt and would vitiate the conclusiveness and reliability of the report of chemical examiner.
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