NDPS Act | Prosecution Must Establish Contraband Was Seized From 'Conscious Possession' Of Accused : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court reiterated that to prove offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act), the prosecution must establish that the contraband was seized from the 'conscious possession' of the accused."Conscious possession refers to a scenario where an individual not only physically possesses a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance but is also aware of its presence and nature. In other words, it requires both physical control and mental awareness," the Court explained."Conscious possession implies that the person knew that he had the illicit drug or psychotropic substance in his control and had the intent or knowledge of its illegal nature," the Court stated.The Court further added that the burden of proof will shift to the accused as per Section 54 of the NDPS Act only when the conscious possession is proved."It is the burden of the prosecution to establish that the contraband was seized from the conscious possession of the accused. Only when that aspect has been successfully proved by the prosecution, the onus will shift to the accused to account for the possession legally and satisfactorily."A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan made these observations while considering an appeal filed by a convict who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for carrying poppy husk in train.The convict argued that he alighted from the train when the police asked him to get out from the train along with three carton boxes found near him. He claimed that he had no connection with the carton boxes.The Court observed that the explanation given by the accused was not palatable. "We do not find any satisfactory reply or explanation as to how come he was sitting on one of the cartons and the other two cartons were closely placed next to him," it observed.Since there is no satisfactory explanation, the Court said that Section 54 comes into play and the Trial Court was justified in drawing the presumption that the accused was in conscious possession. The appeal was dismissed.Case : Rakesh Kumar Raghuvanshi v. The State of Madhya PradeshCitation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 100Click here to read the judgment

NDPS Act | Prosecution Must Establish Contraband Was Seized From 'Conscious Possession' Of Accused : Supreme Court

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