Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Possession - The term 'possession' as relevant under this section can be classified fur- ther. Such clarification may be possible or necessitated by the situation, time, duty, profession etc. etc. Possession of intoxicants without due permission under the provisions of this Act is not per se punishable as an offence. Different situations relevant under this section may be classified as under:- Possession by one community legal and possession by another community of the same articles illegal. This amounts to discrimination against community. Such provisions are hit by the provisions containing equality clause of the Constitution of India. Possession does not mean only physical or actual possession but includes constructive possession also. In order to decide whether a quantity of illicit liquor is in possession of the accused person. the courts have to consider not merely whether the article lying in the house of the accused person or at a place accessible to other, but a number of other circumstances the proof of which will persuade the court to come to the conclusion that the offending material was not in fact under the control and absolute domination of the person concerned. Recovery of illicit liquor from the field of another on information given by the accused would not amount to possession within the meaning of the Section 61 (1). Under the circumstances, it is probable that the accused gave information relating to liquor belonging to some one else and therefore, the accused could not be said to be in possession of such discovered liquor Accused stated before Police that they had buried pitchers of lahan under trees in their family fields. Pitchers of lahan recovered. This was sufficient to establish the conscious possession of the articles in question and the accused were guilty of an offence under Section 61(1)(a) of the Excise Act. Essential ingredient of offence. Accused found traveling in a car driven by his co-accused. Bottles of beer recovered by police from the dicky of the car. Dicky was locked and its key was with the driver. No evidence that accuse~ had any knowledge about existence of bottles of beer in the dicky. Charge quashed. Illicit liquor recovered from possession of the accused in consequence of a disclosure statement. Prosecution story regarding disclosure doubtful. Exclusive possession of liq- uor with the accused not proved. Conviction set aside in revision.