Section 50 NDPS safeguard applies only to personal search, not to recovery from a bag carried by the accused.

Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 is confined to a personal search of the accused and does not extend to a bag, suitcase or other container carried by that person. The statutory safeguard cannot be enlarged by interpretation to cover articles distinct from the person himself. Accordingly, non-compliance with Section 50 is not a legal objection to recovery from a bag carried by the accused, and the contrary view treating such search as a personal search was considered incorrect.

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Issues: Whether Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 applies to the search of a bag carried by a person, and whether non-compliance with that provision vitiates the recovery.

Analysis: Section 50 is confined to a personal search of a person. It does not extend to the search of a bag, suitcase or container carried by the accused, because such a search is distinct from a search of the person himself. The safeguard under Section 50 cannot be enlarged by strained interpretation so as to cover articles carried by a person when the statutory language is directed to personal search alone.

Conclusion: Section 50 was held not to apply to the search of the bag, and the contrary view of the High Court was held to be wrong.

Final Conclusion: The decision turns on the limited scope of the statutory safeguard under Section 50 and its inapplicability to recovery from a bag carried by the accused.

Ratio Decidendi: The mandatory requirement of Section 50 applies only to personal search and not to the search of a bag or other article carried by the accused.

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