Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Possession during transit on behalf of others. - It is matter of common occurrence that intoxicants are in possession of various persons in the course of transit from one place to another e.g. cartmen, ship-owners, coolies and so f01ih. Such persons cannot of course be said to be persons with possession within Section 24 of the Act. It is, therefore, reasonable to hold that the person in possession contemplated by that provision is one who is in possession of the intoxicant on his own behalf, and not one who is in temporary custody or charge of the same on behalf of another in the course, and for purposes of transit. What is such temporary custody or charge depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case, so that what is temporary custody or charge on behalf of another person initially may be converted into illegal possession at a subsequent stage. This may, for instance, take place where a person initially in charge of the intoxicant on behalf of another person in the course, and for the purpose of transit detains the consignment longer than necessary for transmission or for a purpose unconnected with the transmission. Possession of intoxicant in transit by a person not on his behalf but for purpose of transit to its destination for 10 days was held not unreasonable, considering the tardy nature of communication and long distance to be covered. The possession did not, therefore, became illegal merely because of the long period.