INTELLIGENCE OFFICER NARCOTICS CONTROL BUREAU Vs. NAUSHAD ALI ABDUL AZIZ MASTER ALIAS FIROZ KARIM MERCHANT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner herein is an Intelligence Officer in Narcotic Control Bureau working under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, (hereinafter referred to as the said NDPS Act for brevity sake ). Respondent No. 1 is one of the accused in a case being NDPS Special Case No. 284 of 1992 on the file of Special Judge, Greater Bombay for the various offences registered under the provisions of the said NDPS Act, Customs Act and Indian Penal Code. The accused-respondent No. 1 moved application being NDPS Special Bail Application No. 406 of 1994 before the Ld. Spl. Judge for bail which the Ld. Spl. Judge by his order dated 20-12-1994 has allowed granting bail to the accused respondent No. 1. The petitioner has come in this revision before this Court challenging the legality and validity of the said order of the learned Special Judge.

(2.) IT will be necessary to have brief advertance to the facts in the background of the prosecution case. The offences against the respondent No. 1 have been registered under the provisions of section 135 (1) (a) read with section 135 (1) (ii) of the Customs Act as also under section 8 (c), 22, 23, and 28 of the said NDPS Act and read with section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. The contraband Narcotic drug involved in the matter is Mandrex Tablets weighing 9 kgs. Alongwith respondent No. 1-accused there is one more co-accused named Kamruddin Ahmed Shaikh.

(3.) IT is noticed on perusal of the investigation record that respondent came to be apprehended at Sahar International Airport on 24-9-1992 when he was scheduled to catch flight to Uganda. The accused presented his baggage consisting of black coloured suit-case and one black coloured zipper hand-bag for x-ray examination in the process of boarding the flight ET-641 for ENTEBEE before the Officer attached to Sahar Airport. The Ex-ray examination revealed some kind of concealment in the baggage. The officers of the petitioner were also present at that place at that time, in the company of panchas. The accused was questioned in the presence of panchas whether he was carrying any contraband drugs in his baggages to which he answered in the negative. As the X-ray examination revealed otherwise the officers of the petitioner opened the said bag and found containing 9 kgs. of Mandrex tablets. The search was carried out in the presence of the panchas. The investigating party of the petitioner comprised of various officers such as Shri S. M. Sawant, Superintendent, T. T. V. Balchandran, Investigation Officer and the Constables. Superintendent Sawant also happened to be the Gazetted Officer and the other Official Balchandran was an Empowered Officer within the meaning of the provisions of the said NDPS Act. It appears that on discovering the Narcotic Drugs in the baggage of the accused he was informed that Mr. Sawant was a Gazetted Officer. The panchnama then proceeded and the contraband Narcotic Drugs found were taken charge of. When the investigating party wanted to take personal search of the accused he was asked whether he wanted to have his personal search before any Gazetted Officer as provided in NDPS Act, to which it is stated, the accused declined and therefore personal search of the accused was carried out and certain currency notes in US dollars and Indian rupees were recovered. The search panchnama was drawn up at the place and copy whereof is in the record and proceedings. The value of the contraband drug is stated to be around Rs. 90,000/ -.