https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=156917 Section 50(1) of the NDPS Act is a mandatory safeguard and requires strict compliance: the empowered officer must inform the suspect of the right to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. A mere inquiry asking whether the suspect prefers that option does not satisfy the statutory mandate, because the choice can be meaningful only after the right is first communicated. The later insertion of sub-sections (5) and (6) does not remove this obligation, and the earlier view treating bare inquiry as sufficient is inconsistent with the Constitution Bench ruling in Baldev Singh. en-us Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0530 Fri, 19 Dec 2025 17:00:27 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=156917 Section 50(1) of the NDPS Act is a mandatory safeguard and requires strict compliance: the empowered officer must inform the suspect of the right to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate. A mere inquiry asking whether the suspect prefers that option does not satisfy the statutory mandate, because the choice can be meaningful only after the right is first communicated. The later insertion of sub-sections (5) and (6) does not remove this obligation, and the earlier view treating bare inquiry as sufficient is inconsistent with the Constitution Bench ruling in Baldev Singh. Case-Laws Customs Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=156917