State vs . Rani on 9 September, 2019
28. First, it is an admitted fact emerging from the record of the
case that the appellant was not produced before any Magistrate
or Gazetted Officer; Second, it is also an admitted fact that due
to the aforementioned first reason, the search and recovery of
the contraband Charas was not made from the appellant in the
presence of any Magistrate or Gazetted Officer; Third, it is also
an admitted fact that none of the police officials of the raiding
FIR No. 68/06 State Vs. Rani 13/15
party, who recovered the contraband Charas from him, was the
Gazetted Officer and nor they could be and, therefore, they
were not empowered to make search and recovery from the
appellant of the contraband Charas as provided under Section
50 of the NDPS Act except in the presence of either a
Magistrate or a Gazetted Officer; Fourth, in order to make the
search and recovery of the contraband articles from the body of
the suspect, the search and recovery has to be in conformity
with the requirements of Section 50 of the NDPS Act. It is,
therefore, mandatory for the prosecution to prove that the
search and recovery was made from the appellant in the
presence of a Magistrate or a Gazetted Officer.