Two men sent to jail for possessing 153 kg 'charas'

Two aged men have been awarded jail terms of 15 and 10 years by a Delhi court for possessing 153 kg of 'charas' (cannabis).
Special NDPS Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar held the accused - Lal Mohamad and Anil Kothari - guilty of offences under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and sentenced them to 10 years and 15 years in jail, respectively.
While sending 60-year-old Mohamad to jail, the court, considered that he did not have any previous criminal involvement and was just a "carrier" of drugs and indulged in the crime due to poverty.
The judge, however, sent Kothari, 65, to 15 years in jail noting that he had previously been convicted in a similar case.

"I have considered the prayer of convict Anil Kothari for leniency. His medical condition is apparent from the record. He is suffering from multiple ailments. However, at the same time his conduct of jumping parole and then again committing the same offence is a factor which goes against him," the judge said.
"Convict Lal Mohammad has no previous record of criminal involvement. The record of the case would show that he was simply a carrier of the drugs and in all probabilities because of his poverty he had indulged in this act," the court said.

Besides the jail terms, it also imposed fines of Rs one lakh on Mohamad and Rs three lakh on Kothari.

Acording to prosecution, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) received a tip off that on April 24, 2008, some men will come to collect delivery of narcotic drugs in a car, following which a raiding team was set up.
The accused were caught and on search of their vehicle, 151 packets containing 152 kgs charas were recovered, it said, adding that a complaint was then filed by Gurjit Singh, Intelligence Officer, DRI.
Mohamad, a Bihar native, and Kothari, a Delhi resident, had sought leniency on the ground that they had spent over eight years behind bars, and were suffering various ailments due to old age.