Source: Supreme Court 

Why In News?  

The bench of Justice C T Ravikumar and Justice Sanjay Karol held that “Section 50 of the NDPS Act is no more res integra and this Court in unambiguous term held that if the recovery was not from the person and whereas from a bag carried by him, the procedure formalities prescribed under Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS) was not required to be complied with”.  

• The Supreme Court held this in the case of State of Kerala v. Prabhu.  

What is the Background of State of Kerala v. Prabhu Case?

• The case involves an appeal by the State against the judgment of acquittal passed by the High Court of Kerala in a case under the NDPS. 
• The respondent was charged under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act for possessing 2.050 kgs of Ganja, which is considered an intermediary quantity. 
• The contraband was recovered from a bag in the respondent's possession during a patrol duty by the Excise Inspector. 
• The trial court had convicted the respondent under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act, but the High Court had reversed the conviction and acquitted the respondent on the ground of non-compliance with the formalities under Section 50 of the NDPS Act. 

What were the Court’s Observations?

• The Supreme Court held that the High Court's reasoning for reversing the conviction and acquitting the respondent on the ground of non-compliance with Section 50 of the NDPS Act was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Ranjan Kumar Chadha v. State of Himachal Pradesh (2023). 
• The Supreme Court observed that as per the law laid down in Ranjan Kumar Chadha case, if the recovery is from a bag in the possession of the accused, and not directly from the person, the formalities under Section 50 of the NDPS Act are not required to be complied with. 
• Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's judgment of acquittal and restored the trial court's judgment convicting the respondent under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act. 
• However, considering that the respondent had already undergone around 4 years and 4 months of incarceration, the Supreme Court confined the sentence to the period already undergone and granted 30 days to the respondent to pay the fine of Rs. 50,000 imposed by the trial court. 

What are the Conditions under Section 50 of NDPS?

Section 50 of the NDPS lays down the conditions under which a search of persons shall be conducted. The key points of this section are: 

• Requirement to Take the Person to a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate:  
  • If a person requests, the officer conducting the search must take the person to the nearest Gazetted Officer of any of the departments mentioned in Section 42 or to the nearest Magistrate, without unnecessary delay. 
  • The officer may detain the person until they can bring them before the Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. 
• Determination of Reasonable Grounds for Search:  
  • The Gazetted Officer or Magistrate before whom the person is brought shall, if they see no reasonable ground for search, forthwith discharge the person. 
  • If they find reasonable grounds, they shall direct that the search be made. 
• Search of Female Persons:  
  • No female shall be searched by anyone except a female. 
• Immediate Search in Certain Cases:  
  • If the officer believes that it is not possible to take the person to the nearest Gazetted Officer or Magistrate without the possibility of the person parting with possession of any narcotic drug, psychotropic substance, controlled substance, article, or document, they may proceed to search the person as per the provisions of Section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. 
  • After such a search, the officer must record the reasons for their belief that necessitated the immediate search and send a copy to their immediate official superior within 72 hours.