Search procedure under Central Excise rules must follow criminal code safeguards; failure to record reasons vitiates the search.

Searches authorised under Rule 201 of the Central Excise Rules had to follow Section 165 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, because Section 18 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 required searches under the Act and Rules to be conducted in accordance with the Code. The Court treated a Rule 201 search as one made for investigation of an offence, so the procedural safeguards in Section 165 applied. Recording reasons was an essential safeguard, not a mere formality, and failure to do so meant the search was not lawfully carried out and was illegal.

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Issues: Whether searches authorised under Rule 201 of the Central Excise Rules had to be carried out in accordance with Section 165 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, and whether failure to record reasons as required by that provision rendered the search illegal.

Analysis: Section 18 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 required searches under the Act and the Rules to be carried out in accordance with the Code relating to searches. Rule 201 authorised a search for the purpose of ascertaining whether excisable goods were processed, stored, manufactured, or carried in contravention of the Act or the Rules, which was treated as a search for the investigation of an offence. The provisions of Section 165 of the Code, which govern searches during investigation, were held to be the appropriate and governing procedure. The recording of reasons was not a mere formality but an essential condition of a valid search, and omission to comply with it meant that the search was not carried out in accordance with the Code.

Conclusion: Searches under Rule 201 were required to comply with Section 165 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, and the failure to record reasons rendered the search illegal.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute directs that searches shall be conducted in accordance with the Code, the procedural safeguards prescribed for the relevant category of search are mandatory, and non-compliance with an essential safeguard such as recording reasons vitiates the search.

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