“11. In the case of Murlidhar Soni (supra), the son was driving a scooter and his father was a pillion rider and carrying few Kgs of ganja in a cloth bag. In this situation also the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that the son, who was driving the scooter, cannot be said to have conscious possession of ganja and his acquittal was approved. In the case of Balkar Singh (supra), the accused persons were found sitting on a cluster of bags kept in a field, containing large quantity of poppy husks. Despite that the Apex Court has approved the acquittal of the accused persons holding that there was no investigation as to how the strangers (accused persons) had transported 100 bags of poppy husks to the place of recovery nor the prosecution adduced any evidence about their ownership. In the case of Avtar Singh (supra), the accuseds were travelling in a truck and the bag, over which they were found sitting, was containing narcotic drug and in this case also it has been held that the accused cannot be said to be in conscious possession of the narcotic drug. Their Lordships have held that possession and ownership need not always go together but the minimum requisite element which has to be satisfied is custody or control over the goods. While acquitting the accused persons, their Lordships have further observed that the persons who were merely sitting on the bags, in absence of prove and nothing more, cannot be presumed to be in possession of the goods. In the case of Hari Singh
