Section 50 NDPS safeguards are satisfied by informed, voluntary search before an available Gazetted Officer; prejudice must be shown.

Section 50 of the NDPS Act applies only to a personal search and is satisfied when the accused is informed of the right to be searched before the nearest Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. The safeguard is substantive, not formalistic: the provision does not require the Gazetted Officer to be unconnected with the raiding party as a matter of law, and no presumption of bias arises merely because the officer was present at the spot. Where the accused voluntarily opts to be searched before the available Gazetted Officer and prejudice is not shown, compliance remains valid and the search is not illegal for want of statutory safeguards.

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Issues: Whether compliance with Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 was vitiated because the accused was searched in the presence of a Gazetted Officer who was present at the spot and had not been shown to be part of the raiding party.

Analysis: Section 50 applies only to the personal search of a person and its purpose is to ensure a fair, transparent and protective search procedure by informing the person of the right to be searched before the nearest Gazetted Officer or nearest Magistrate. The substance of the safeguard, and not any particular form of words, is material. The provision does not require that the Gazetted Officer be unconnected with the search party as a matter of law, nor does it create a presumption of bias merely because the officer was present at the spot. Where the accused is informed of the right and voluntarily opts to be searched in the presence of the available Gazetted Officer, and that officer is not the one proposing to conduct the search in a dual capacity, the statutory requirement is satisfied. Prejudice is not to be presumed; it must be shown.

Conclusion: Compliance with Section 50 was valid, and the search was not illegal for want of statutory safeguards.

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