Palghar, Jul 30 A sessions court here has acquitted a luxury bus driver, who was booked following the seizure of pan masala from the vehicle after a fire incident, citing serious lapses in the police probe procedure.
A copy of the order dated July 27, delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Akhil Jain, was made available on Thursday.
According to the prosecution, a bus driven by Rajasthan native Chandansing Mahadusing Rajput caught fire on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway on April 30, 2023. While retrieving baggage, police allegedly discovered banned pan masala and tobacco products in the vehicle.
The judge pointed out chain-of-custody gaps, missing ‘malkhana’ (evidence room) entries, a three-month delay in sending samples for testing, and the failure of police to investigate the actual sender and receiver.
“There is no evidence in whose custody the seized items and sample packets were given at the police station. There is no evidence of any such entry having made in the Malkhana register regarding deposit as well as release of seized items and sample packets,” the judge said.
On the three-month delay in sending samples for chemical analysis, the court said that the possibility of “tampering with the seized items and sample packets cannot be reasonably wiped out”.
The court also said that the accused was merely a driver of the bus and noted that police had not investigated those who had sent the contraband and the intended receiver.
“This leaves a loophole in the investigation... This goof-up in the evidence is enough to give a benefit of doubt to the accused,” the court said, acquitting the bus driver.
