NDPS procedural safeguards confined to personal search and public conveyance search, restoring conviction and sentence.

Section 50 of the NDPS Act is confined to personal search and does not apply to recovery from a vehicle or container; on the facts, recovery from a truck meant the safeguard was inapplicable. Section 42(2) was also held inapplicable because the search was of a public conveyance at a public place during daytime, so the recording requirement relied upon was not attracted. The result was that the acquittal could not stand on either procedural ground, and the trial court's conviction and sentence were restored.

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Issues: (i) Whether Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 applied to the search and seizure made from a truck. (ii) Whether Section 42(2) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 was attracted to the search of a public conveyance at a public place.

Issue (i): Whether Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 applied to the search and seizure made from a truck.

Analysis: Section 50 applies to a search of the person of an and not to search of a vehicle or container. The recovery in the case was from a truck and not from the person of any accused. A search of a public conveyance does not amount to a personal search for this purpose.

Conclusion: Section 50 was inapplicable, and the acquittal could not be sustained on that ground.

Issue (ii): Whether Section 42(2) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 was attracted to the search of a public conveyance at a public place.

Analysis: The search was of a public carrier at a public place, and the recovery was made during daytime. In such a situation, the officer making the search was not required to comply with the recording requirement relied upon by the High Court. The statutory safeguard invoked by the respondents did not apply on these facts.

Conclusion: Section 42(2) was inapplicable, and the acquittal could not be upheld on that ground.

Final Conclusion: The acquittal was set aside and the conviction and sentence recorded by the trial court were restored.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 50 is confined to personal search, and the procedural requirement under Section 42(2) does not govern search of a public conveyance at a public place on the facts found.

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