Mohali, April 6 -- A Mohali special court awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment to a 26-year-old man convicted of possessing 300 gram heroin, considered as commercial quantity under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The man, identified as Rakesh, was caught with the contraband in February 2022. Though the defence had argued that the search conducted upon him was invalid, the court rejected the claim. It held that Section 50, which requires the search to be conducted in the presence of a gazetted officer or a magistrate, was fulfilled as deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Amarpreet Singh, a gazetted officer, supervised the entire process. The court also dismissed the defence argument regarding contradictions about items recovered from the accused's pocket. It held that the presence of a mobile phone and currency notes alongside the contraband did not create any doubt,terming the discrepancy "minor" and not affecting the recovery of heroin. Special judge TPS Randhawa held that the prosecution had successfully proved the recovery and sealing process through police testimony. A forensic report also confirmed that the substance was diacetylmorphine (heroin) and accordingly, the accused was held guilty under Section 21 (illegal manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, or use of manufactured drugs) of the NDPS Act. Subsequently, Rakesh, who was on bail, was taken into custody andproduced for sentencing. Citing Supreme Court precedents, the special court ruled that the absence of independent witnesses is not fatal to the case when the testimony of police officials is found reliable and trustworthy. Holding the prosecution's chain of evidence "complete and consistent," the court sentenced Rakesh to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment, noting thatcommercial quantity warranted stringent punishment....