Customs officers are not police officers for confession rules; statements remain admissible absent charge-sheet power.

Statements recorded by Customs officers under the Customs Act, 1962 were held admissible in criminal trial because such officers are not "police officers" for Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The governing test is whether the statutory scheme gives the officer powers so closely connected with police investigation that confessional statements could be obtained, especially the power to file a charge-sheet under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Expanded powers of arrest, search, enquiry, and bail did not satisfy that test, and earlier rulings treating customs officers as distinct from police officers were reaffirmed.

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Issues: Whether statements recorded by Customs authorities under the Customs Act, 1962 were inadmissible in evidence in a criminal trial on the ground that the officers were police officers within the meaning of Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Analysis: The Court compared the powers conferred on Customs officers under the new Act with the earlier customs regime and with the powers of police officers under the Code of Criminal Procedure. It reaffirmed that the crucial test is whether the officer has powers so closely connected with police investigation as to facilitate the obtaining of a confession, particularly the power to submit a charge-sheet under Section 173 of the Code. Although Customs officers under the 1962 Act were given expanded powers of arrest, search, enquiry, and release on bail, those powers did not make them police officers in the legal sense. The earlier decisions holding that customs officers are not police officers remained applicable.

Conclusion: Statements recorded by Customs officers under the Customs Act, 1962 were not hit by Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and were admissible; the contention of the appellant was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was dismissed, and the ruling affirmed that a Customs officer does not become a police officer merely because the statute confers powers analogous to those of police investigation.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, an officer under a special customs law is not a police officer unless the statutory scheme confers the essential power to file a charge-sheet under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

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