The court affirmed the right to a fair trial, emphasizing the necessity of judicial oversight in forensic examinations to ensure the integrity of evidence in narcotics cases.

Order :

1. By way of filing this instant Criminal Misc. Petition under Section 482 CrPC, the petitioner has challenged the order dated 11.12.2023 passed by the learned Special Judge, NDPS Cases, Pratapgarh in Criminal Case No. 11/2023, whereby the learned Judge has rejected the application filed by the petitioner.

2. The gist of the present case is that the petitioner has been arraigned as an accused and arrested in a case under the NDPS Act for the offence under sections 8/22, 25 for having possession of 400 grams MDMA wherein trial had commenced before the learned Special Judge, NDPS Cases, Pratapgarh (for short, “the trial Court”). After seizure the samples were taken from the recovered contraband and sent to the FSL. During the pendency of the trial, the petitioner had moved applications on 28.04.2023 and 27.07.2023, seeking direction for taking sample from the original article lying in maalkhana for forensic examination to bring the true facts on record. However, the learned trial Court, vide order dated 11.12.2023, rejected the said applications and declined to take sample from the remainder article for the purpose of sending the same for forensic analysis. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioner had preferred the present misc. petition.

3. Heard learned counsels present for the parties and gone through the material available on record.

4. As per Standing Order No. 1/89 issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, the seizure process of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances must follow stringent guidelines to ensure proper handling, disposal, and prevention of theft or substitution. The Standing Order specifically addresses the safe disposal of narcotic substances, including ensuring that substances are not improperly handled or substituted. In the present case, the seizure of the contraband did not adhere to these protocols as outlined in Standing Order No. 1/89.

5. By way of filing the instant Misc. Petition, the petitioner made a prayer that the narcotic substance marked as “Article A” was not properly handled and that the sample sent for chemical examination could have been substituted or improperly stored, therefore, in line with the requirements of Standing Order No. 1/89 and to ensure the integrity of the trial, it is essential that a fresh sample from the remaining 380 grams of the substance be drawn under judicial oversight and sent for forensic analysis to ascertain the authenticity of the recovered contraband.

6. At this stage, it is pertinent to reproduce Section 52A of the NDPS Act, which lays down the procedure for inventory, certification, and disposal of seized narcotic substances.

Section 52A states as follows - 52A. Disposal of seized narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.—

(1) The Central Government may, having regard to the hazardous nature, vulnerability to theft, substitution, constraint of proper storage space or any other relevant consideration, in respect of any narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, controlled substances or conveyances, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify such narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, controlled substances or conveyance or class of narcotic drugs, class of psychotropic substances, class of controlled substances or conveyances, which shall, as soon as may be after their seizure, be disposed of by such officer and in such manner as that Government may, from time to time, determine after following the procedure hereinafter specified.

(2) Where any narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, controlled substances or conveyances has been seized and forwarded to the officer-in-charge of the nearest police station or to the officer empowered under section 53, the officer referred to in sub- section (1) shall prepare an inventory of such narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances containing such details relating to their description, quality, quantity, mode of packing, marks, numbers or such other identifying particulars of the narcotic drugs or psychotr