IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(APPELLATE JURISDICTION) 
 
 
PRESENT: 
MR. JUSTICE UMAR ATA BANDIAL 
MR. JUSTICE SAJJAD ALI SHAH 
MR. JUSTICE SAYYED MAZAHAR ALI AKBAR NAQVI 
 
JAIL PETITION NO. 657 OF 2016 
(On 
appeal 
against 
judgment 
dated 
29.09.2015 passed by the Lahore High 
Court, Lahore in Criminal Appeal No. 
1628/2009) 
 
Zulfiqar @ Zulfa 
 
 
 
 
… Petitioner 
VERSUS 
The State  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
… Respondents 
 
For the Petitioner: 
Nemo 
 
For the State: 
 
Ch. Muhammad Sarwar Sidhu, Addl. P.G.  
 
Date of Hearing:  
16.12.2020 
 
JUDGMENT 
 
 
 
SAYYED MAZAHAR ALI AKBAR NAQVI, J.- The 
petitioner was proceeded against in terms of the case registered 
vide FIR No. 1372/2007 dated 20.10.2007 under Section 9 (c) of 
the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, at Police Station 
Saddar, Faisalabad. The learned Trial Court vide its judgment 
dated 28.08.2009 convicted the petitioner under Section 9 (c) of 
the CNSA, 1997, and sentenced him to imprisonment for life. He 
was also directed to pay fine of Rs.30,000/- or in default whereof 
to further suffer one year & four months SI. Benefit of Section 382-
B Cr.P.C. was also extended to him. The learned High Court vide 
impugned judgment maintained the conviction and sentence 
recorded by the learned Trial Court.  
2. 
 
Briefly stated the facts of the matter are that on a spy 
information, raid was conducted on the house of the petitioner and 
Jail Petition No. 657/2016 
2
he was apprehended with a sack full of bhukki/poast. On search, it 
was found that there was 15 kilogram of bhukki/poast in the bag. 
Out of the 15 kilogram, 500 grams was separated for chemical 
analysis. The report of the Chemical Examiner came positive. The 
prosecution produced six witnesses in support of its case. In his 
statement recorded under Section 342 Cr.P.C., the petitioner 
denied the allegations leveled against him and pleaded that he is 
falsely involved in this case.  
3. 
 
None was present on behalf of the petitioner in this 
case. However, in the interest of justice, instead of adjourning the 
case, we have decided to proceed with the case and decide it on 
merits.  
4. 
 
Learned Additional Prosecutor General has inter alia 
contended that the petitioner was caught red handed with a huge 
quantity of narcotics; that the Police had no enmity with the 
petitioner to falsely implicate him in the present case and that the 
prosecution case has been fully proved beyond any reasonable 
doubt. He lastly contended that the petitioner deserves no leniency 
by this Court.  
5. 
 
We have heard learned Law Officer and have perused 
the case record. 
6. 
 
The petitioner was caught red handed by the Police 
while he was holding a sack, which contained 15 kilograms of 
bhukki/poast. To bring home the guilt of the petitioner, the 
prosecution produced six witnesses, out of which Ghazanfar Ali, 
constable (PW-4) and Khawaja Imran Manan, ASC (PW-6) were 
important. Both these PWs were cross-examined by the defence 
counsel at length but they remained consistent on all material 
Jail Petition No. 657/2016 
3
particulars of the case. We have noted that FIR was registered in 
the year 2007 whereas the evidence was recorded in the year 2009, 
therefore, the possibility of minor discrepancies in the statements 
of PWs is natural. This Court in a number of cases has held that 
police officials are also competent witnesses and their testimony 
cannot be discarded merely for the reasons that they are 
employees of police force. This Court in Salah-ud-Din Vs. State 
(2010 SCMR 1962) has held that “reluctance of general public to 
become witness in such like cases has become judicially recognized 
fact and there was no way out to consider statement of official 
witness, as no legal bar or restriction had been imposed in such 
regard. Police officials are as good witnesses and could be relied 
upon, if their testimony remained un-shattered during cross-
examination.” The occurrence took place on 20.10.2007 whereas 
the sample was sent to Chemical Examiner on 02.11.2007 and 
according to the report of the Chemical Examiner the sample 
contained ‘poast’. Keeping in view the above position, it can safely 
be said that there is sufficient evidence available to connect the 
petitioner with the commission of crime. However, so far as 
quantum of punishment is concerned, we note that this is a case 
of lesser punishment and for this we will examine as to what 
actually is the ‘poast’/opium. In Section 2(t) of the Control of 
Narcotics Substances Act, 1997, ‘opium’ has been defined as 
under:- 
“(t)“opium” means:- 
 
(i) 
poppy straw, that is to say, all parts of the poppy plant 
(papaver somniferum or any other species of Papaver) after 
mowing, other than the seeds, 
 
(ii) 
the spontaneously coagulated juice of capsules of poppy 
which has not been submitted to any manipulations other 
Jail Petition No. 657/2016 
4
than those necessary for packing and transport; and 
 
(iii) 
any mixture, with or without natural materials, of any of the 
above forms of opium, but does not includes any preparation 
containing not more than 0.2 per cent of morphine;” 
 
 
7. 
 
As per definition clause of CNSA, after mowing, all 
parts of the poppy plant except seeds are considered to be poppy 
straw. However, this Court in the case reported as Taimoor Khan 
Vs. State (2016 SCMR 621) while referring to earlier judgment of 
this Court reported at Muhammad Imran v. The State (2011 SCMR 
1954) has held that it is only the basket, sack or pouch (also 
known as ‘Doda’) excluding the seeds, which contains narcotic 
substance and that all poppy straw may not necessarily be 
‘poast’/doda because poppy straw can be any other part of the 
mowed poppy plant as well, excluding the seeds. It would be 
advantageous to reproduce the relevant portion of the said 
judgment, which reads as under:-  
 
 “What exactly is that which is called 'Poast'? 
            
It has been agreed before us by the learned counsel for 
all the parties and it is also borne out from the 
authoritative works referred to above that in the local 
parlance Poast is the name given to that part of a poppy 
plant which has the shape of a basket, sack or pouch 
and it contains the seeds of such plant. This natural 
pouch or bulb made of the skin of the plant is meant by 
the nature to hold and protect the seeds of the plant 
contained therein. In some parts of this country this 
natural pouch of the poppy plant is also known as 
Doda. The Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997 
calls this part of a poppy plant as 'capsule' of poppy 
and this finds a specific mention in section 2(t) (ii) of the 
said Act. The authoritative works mentioned above as 
well as the learned counsel for all the parties before us 
are also in agreement that if an unripe capsule of a 
poppy plant is given an incision then a fluid oozes out of 
the same containing meconic acid and a number of 
alkaloids including narcotine and morphine which fluid 
thickens within a short time and becomes brown in 
colour and such substance is pure opium. It is also 
Jail Petition No. 657/2016 
5
agreed at all hands that even ripe and dry capsules of 
poppy contain morphine and other alkaloids, i.e. opium, 
although less in quantity, which can be used for 
sedative and narcotic action. Most of the authoritative 
works produced by the learned counsel for the parties 
also confirm that alkaloids can be extracted even from a 
mature and dry plant of poppy or poppy straw whether 
it is in its natural shape or is in a crushed form. 
However, the seeds contained in a capsule of a poppy 
are free from morphine. After its mowing every part of a 
poppy plant, including its capsule/Poast/Doda but 
excluding the seeds, is generally called poppy straw 
and, thus, every Post/Doda is a part of a poppy straw 
but all poppy straw may not necessarily be Poast/Doda 
because poppy straw can be any other part of the 
mowed poppy plant as well, excluding the seeds. 
(Underlined to lay emphasis) 
 
8. 
 
From the above, it is clear that ‘Poast’ is the name 
given to that part of a poppy plant which has the shape of a basket, 
sack or pouch and it contains the seeds of such plant. In some parts 
of this country this natural pouch of the poppy plant is also known 
as Doda. This led us to the question as to what actually was 
recovered from the petitioner. Was it only the doda/basket/pouch 
or it was the whole plant with stems and flowers? But 
unfortunately, there is nothing in evidence regarding this aspect of 
the matter. In common parlance, it has been seen that oftenly 
stems and leaves of the poppy plants are used as animal food. The 
plant can reach the height of about 1-5 meters (3-16 feet). Poppy 
straw is derived from the plant Papaver somniferum, which has 
been cultivated in many countries of Europe and Asia for 
centuries. This has medicinal impact as well, which is largely used 
as a tonic for wellness of nervous system. The purpose of its 
cultivation was actually the production of poppy seeds. The latter 
is used as a food stuff and as a raw material for manufacturing 
poppy-seed oil, which is used for making various varnishes, paints 
and soaps etc. We, therefore, find it a mitigating circumstance. The 
Jail Petition No. 657/2016 
6
petitioner is behind the bars for the last more than 13 years and 
his remaining sentence is less than two years. 
8. 
 
For what has been discussed above, we while 
maintaining the conviction of the petitioner, reduce the sentence of 
imprisonment for life awarded to him into what he has already 
undergone. The petitioner shall be released from jail forthwith, 
unless detained in any other case. This jail petition is accordingly 
converted into appeal and partly allowed.  
 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
Islamabad, the  
16th of December, 2020 
Approved For Reporting 
Khurram 
 
 
 
