REFERENCE ORDER

1. This is an appeal preferred by the accused against the decision of the Division Bench of the High Court of Gujarat. The appellant herein was found guilty of the offence punishable under Section 31 of the Narcotic Drugs and b Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short "the NDPS Act") and was sentenced to undergo 10 years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10 lakhs.

2. When the matter came before this Court, the appellant raised a contention that Section 50 of the NDPS Act was not duly complied with and the conviction and sentence of the appellant was, therefore, illegal. The appellant relied on a decision of the Constitution Bench of this Court in State

of Punjab v. Baldev Singh I. The contention of the appellant is that the officer, C who conducted the search, did not inform him of his right to be searched in the presence of a gazetted officer or a Magistrate. The police only told him that the search on his body will be carried out and whether he wanted to be searched in the presence of any gazetted officer or a Magistrate. The Division Bench of the High Court held that this is sufficient compliance with Section 50 of the NDPS Act and the conviction of the appellan