Section 50 NDPS safeguard limited to personal search; recovery from a carried bag was not vitiated by the alleged defect.

Section 50 of the NDPS Act applies only to personal search, and its protection cannot be extended to every recovery made during a search. Where ganja was recovered from a polythene bag carried on a kanwad, and not from the accused's body, any alleged defect in the notice or the options offered for search did not invalidate the recovery. The Court rejected the argument that non-compliance with personal-search safeguards automatically vitiates a bag recovery, and upheld the conviction despite the Section 50 challenge.

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Issues: Whether the recovery of ganja from a polythene bag carried on a kanwad, and not from the person of the accused, was vitiated by the alleged non-compliance with Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, including the offering of an additional option to be searched by the officer himself.

Analysis: Section 50 applies to personal search and the protection under that provision cannot be stretched to every recovery made in the course of a search. The recovery in the present case was from a polythene bag carried on a kanwad and not from the body of the accused. On those facts, even if the form of notice or the options mentioned in relation to the search were questioned, the alleged defect could not invalidate a recovery that was not a personal search. The plea that a defect in personal search would automatically vitiate the recovery from the bag was rejected.

Conclusion: The alleged violation of Section 50 did not vitiate the recovery or the conviction, and no relief was granted to the appellant.

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