Section 280(b) in Police Regulations, Bengal , 1943
(b)Only searches for any specific article, which is known, or reasonably suspected to be in any particular place or in the possession of any particular person, can be made without warrants. General searches without warrants are illegal and the only search which can be made without warrant is under section 165, Code of Criminal Procedure. There must be some specific thing necessary for purposes of investigation and there must be reasonable ground for believing that it is in a particular place and that delay in search is likely to interfere with the recovery of property. The police officer must record in his diary (i) the ground of his belief and (ii) the thing he is looking for, and must as soon as practicable send a copy of such record to the nearest Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence [section 165 (ii), Code of Criminal Procedure]. No place should be searched without a warrant merely because the occupier is a registered bad character or absconding offender. Such a search should be made only under the circumstances given in section 165, Code of Criminal Procedure, and when the police officer has reason to believe that the thing searched for will be found in the place to be searched. Provided that reasonable suspicion exists and a definite article (or articles) is (or are) searched for, the police are entitled to search the house of an absconding offender, whether he has been proclaimed or not. Police officers should note in their diaries the reasons for search, though they are not obliged to give the name of the person upon whose information they act. The name, father's name and residence, etc., of any person producing keys of any locked receptacles or claiming ownership of articles seized should always be noted in the case diary.
