Punjab & Haryana HC: Bail Granted in NDPS Case as No Offer Made Under Section 50 for Search Before Magistrate/Gazetted Officer

Case Name: Mohd. Shehbaz v. State of Punjab
Date of Judgment: January 10, 2020
Citation: CRM-M-54494-2019
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amol Rattan Singh

Held: The High Court allowed the petitioner’s bail application under Section 439 CrPC in an NDPS case involving alleged recovery of 2450 intoxicant tablets. It held that since the police did not offer the accused the mandatory option under Section 50 of the NDPS Act—to be searched in the presence of a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer—the recovery itself was rendered doubtful. Relying on precedents including Rajvir Singh @ Raju v. State of Punjab (2018) and Arif Khan @ Agha Khan v. State of Uttarakhand (2018), the Court ruled that such an omission vitiated the search procedure. The Court also noted that no other criminal case was pending against the petitioner, and he had surrendered within three days after missing a hearing, thus not disentitling him to bail.

Summary: The petitioner was arrested based on secret information, and the police claimed recovery of 2450 tablets from a bag on his motorcycle. The petitioner argued that no Section 50 NDPS Act compliance was made, as he was not given the option to be searched before a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer. He also highlighted procedural lapses and relied on binding judicial precedents. The State opposed the bail plea, contending that the recovered contraband was of commercial quantity and that the petitioner had earlier jumped interim bail granted in July 2019. However, the petitioner countered that he had voluntarily surrendered within three days and had no prior criminal history. The Court emphasized that procedural safeguards under the NDPS Act are mandatory. The failure to comply with Section 50 was fatal at the bail stage, particularly since the alleged recovery was based solely on secret information and no independent witness corroboration was shown.

Decision: The High Court granted regular bail to the petitioner, directing him to furnish adequate bail and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court.