- Whenever the Commissioner or a Collector or any police officer not below the rank of an officer-in-charge of a police station or any Prohibition and Excise Officer not below the rank of an Excise Sub-Inspector has reason to believe that an offence under Section 34, Section 35, Section 36, Section 37 or Section 37-A has been, is being or is likely to be, committed and that a search warrant cannot be obtained without affording the offender an opportunity of escape or of concealing evidence of the offence, he may after recording the grounds of his belief,-(a)at any time by day or by night enter and search any place and seize anything found therein which he has reason to believe to be liable to confiscation under this Act; and(b)detain and search and, if he thinks proper, arrest any person found in such place whom he has reason to believe to be guilty of such offence as aforesaid.
