Gujarat High Court
Judgename :S.M.SONI
STATE OF GUJARAT - Appellant
Versus
PRATAPSINH MADHAVSINH PADHIYAR - Respondent
MISC.CRI.APPLN. 4539 of 1994
Decided On : 03/14/1996
N. D. P. S. Act - Sections 41, 42 and 50 - Judge has granted bail placing reliance on two judgments - It is attracted when a person accused of offences punishable is required to be searched and not his premises - Counsel in arguing his case on ground of non-compliance of despite this Court telling him that this Court is in agreement with his argument which is based on judgment in that non-compliance - State Government may prescribe in this behalf this sub-section contemplates for reducing in writing information relating to commission of a cognizable offence – Held, Judgment does not hold that substance known is not a poppy straw - To decide whether it is poppy straw or not it is necessary to have opinion of expert opinion of expert from Forensic Science Laboratory - It was not shown that substance falls within the definition of poppy straw - Any substance popularly known as may or may not be normally it contains opium poppy as normally belongs to the family of papaveraceae - However Court is the expert who can opine whether the substance falls within the definition of narcotic substance case expert had not opined that fragments of poppy capsules alleged to be found from possession of accused are poppy capsules of plant of Papavar somniferum Linn – Court is also not opined by expert that the said fragments of poppy capsules belongs to any other species of Papavar member of Papaveraceae family –Order accordingly(Para 4)
( 1 ) * * * *
( 2 ) THE learned Judge has granted bail, placing reliance on two judgments, one of Balbir Singh (1994 (3) SCC 299) and another of Hathi @ Mangalsinh (1993 (2) GLR 1743 ). So far as Sec. 50 of the N. D. P. S. Act is concerned, it is attracted, when a person accused of offences punishable under N. D. P. S. is required to be searched and not his premises. Therefore, much time was spent by the learned Counsel in arguing his case on the ground of non-compliance of Sec. 50 despite this Court telling him that this Court is in agreement with his argument, which is based on the judgment in Balbir Singh (supra), that non-compliance of Secs. 41, 42 and 50 vitiates the trial. The question is whether non-compliance of any of these provisions can be inferred from the First Information Report only ? In the First Information Report, compliance of Sec. 41, Sec. 42 or Sec. 50 is not required to be stated. What is required to be stated in the First Information Report is the facts constituting offence as required under Sec. 154 of the Code. Sub-section (1) of Sec. 154 reads as under :-"154. (1) Every information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the informant; and every such information, whether given in writing or reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it, and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf. . . . . "this sub-section contemplates for reducing in writing information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence. Sub-section (1) of Sec. 37 of N. D. P. S. Act provides that every offence punishable under the N. D. P. S. Act is a cognizable one, and the information has been taken down in writing. Thus, Sec. 154 of Code does not contemplate for the formalities and procedure of search, seizure and arrest to be stated in the F. I. R. These are all matters of procedure, no doubt, required to be strictly followed, but are not required to be stated in the First Information report.
( 3 ) SECTION 42 (2) of N. D. P. S. Act provides that any information received of an offence under the N. D. P. S. Act is required to be taken down in writing and is also required to be sent forthwith to the superior official. The facts showing compliance of Sec. 42 (2) of N. D. P. S. Act are not required to be stated in the First Information report. It is a matter of evidence and Investigation Officer (I. O.) who is normally examined as a last witness may prove that the information in writing is taken down and sent to his superior official and how sent. For the search after sunset and before sunrise, whether I. O. was required to assign the reasons and whether reasons are assigned or not, and if not why, can be explained by him. Thus, compliance or not of Secs. 41, 42 and 50 of the N. D. P. S. Act cannot be taken into consideration simply from silence of compliance in F. I. R. and at the stage of consideration of bail application. Therefore, finding of the learned Judge that all mandatory provisions of Secs. 41, 42 and 50 of the Act are not complied with on the basis of First information Report is erroneous and not warranted by any provision of law. The conclusion arrived at by the learned Judge is not only erroneous, but is contrary to the provisions of Sec. 37 of the N. D. P. S. Act. If the learned Judge has proceeded on the basis of a wrong assumption of law and facts and has arrived at a particular conclusion, which he would not have otherwise come, that conclusion is required to be set aside and corrected by this Court. In this view of the fact, there is no difficulty to set aside the order to this extent.
( 4 ) APART from this, the learned Addl. Sessions Judge has relied on a judgment in the case of Hathi @ Mangalsinh (supra), and it has been hel
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