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Mina Pun vs State of Uttar Pradesh

Not available · 2023 INSC 776Decided 22 Aug 2023
Not available
Abhay S. Oka · Pankaj Mithal

Background

The appellants were convicted under Section 20(b)(ii)(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, for possession of charas, and sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment plus a fine, with the High Court upholding the conviction. By the time this appeal reached the Supreme Court, the appellants had already served out their full sentence, including the default sentence for non-payment of fine. The appeal was argued through an amicus curiae appointed by the Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court examined the "consent letter" through which the police obtained the appellants' agreement to a body search, and found, based on the cross-examination of the seizing police officer himself, that the letter never informed the appellants of their statutory right under Section 50 of the NDPS Act to insist that the search be conducted before a Magistrate or a Gazetted Officer. Relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Vijaysinh Jadeja v. State of Gujarat, the Court held that this is a mandatory safeguard, and any failure to inform the suspect of this right renders the recovery of the contraband suspect and vitiates a conviction based solely on that recovery. Since the conviction rested entirely on the body-search recovery, the Court set it aside and acquitted the appellants.

Lesson Learnt

If police search a person for suspected drugs, they must clearly inform that person of their right to be searched in front of a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer: merely getting a signed "consent" for the search, without spelling out this right, is not enough, and a conviction built on such a flawed search cannot stand.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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