New Delhi: The Supreme Court has delivered a significant order upholding the conviction of an accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The court rejected the argument that the search and seizure were rendered illegal due to non-compliance with the procedural requirements under Section 50 of the NDPS Act.
The case involved the respondent, Prabhu, who was convicted by the Trial Court for the offense under Section 20(b)(ii)(B) of the NDPS Act for possession of 2.050 kgs of Ganja. The High Court had earlier acquitted Prabhu on the grounds that the mandatory formalities under Section 50 were not complied with.
However, the Supreme Court, after considering its earlier rulings, held that compliance with Section 50 is not required when the recovery of contraband is made from a bag or other belonging carried by the accused, rather than from the person.
The court referred to its judgment in Ranjan Kumar Chadha v. State of Himachal Pradesh, where it held that “the High Court was justified in holding the appellant guilty of the offense under the NDPS Act and at the same time, the High Court was also correct in saying that Section 50 of the NDPS Act was not required to be complied with as the recovery was from the bag.”
Applying this principle, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s acquittal order and restored the conviction imposed by the Trial Court. The court noted that the evidence established that the recovery was made from the bag carried by the respondent, and not from his person.
The Supreme Court also took into account that the respondent had already undergone around 4 years and 4 months of imprisonment. Considering this, the court confined the sentence to the period already served and granted 30 days to the respondent to pay the fine of Rs. 50,000 imposed by the Trial Court.
