Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, August 24
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that a gazetted police officer can carry out lawful search of enclosed spaces ‘whether by day or night’ in drug cases.
Justice Sureshwar Thakur of the High Court also made it clear that Section 42 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was applicable to the search of buildings, conveyance and enclosed space upon receipt of prior information by the investigating officer concerned when the search was conducted between sunset and sunrise.
Section 42 of the NDPS Act deals with the power of entry, search, seizure and arrest without warrant or authorisation. Justice Thakur held that search in between sunset and sunrise should be made by a gazetted rank officer and/or in his presence or under his authorisation by officials specified in sub Section 1 of Section 42 of the Act.
Justice Thakur asserted: “To summarise the provisions of Section 42 of the Act are applicable to search of buildings, conveyance, and, enclosed space, but the above may apply upon any prior information being received by the investigating officer concerned, and, also when searches’ thereof, become conducted in the interregnum inter-se sunset, and, sunrise”.
Referring to sub-Section 2 of Section 41, Justice Thakur observed that a gazetted rank officer of the police or the Excise Department, either personally or by authorising an officer subordinate to him could make the lawful arrest of the offender at the crime site. He could also make lawful search of the building or conveyance or place “whether by day or by night and, the above valid actions may ensue even from a prior intimation”.
Justice Thakur added a perusal of Section 42(1) of the NDPS Act applied to officers, superior in rank to a peon, sepoy or constable, but not co-equal to or equivalent in rank to a gazetted officer. But prior information leading to search of and seizure from a conveyance in between sunset and sunrise carried out by an officer of a gazetted rank, of the excise or police or other departments of the Central or the State Government was in consonance with the mandate carried in sub-Section 1 of Section 42 of the Act.
