Full Judgment Text
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 2118 OF 2008
Sukhdev Singh ... Appellant
Versus
State of Haryana ... Respondent
J U D G M E N T
Swatanter Kumar, J.
1. The present appeal is directed against the judgment dated
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27 March, 2008 pronounced by the High Court of Punjab and
Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal No. 802-SB of 1998.
We may notice the case of the prosecution and the facts which
have given rise to the filing of the present criminal appeal.
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2. On 4 February, 1994, ASI Nand Lal along with HC Hoshiar
Singh, HC Suraj Bhan and other police officials were present in
village Jogewala, in connection with patrolling duty. ASI Nand
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Lal, who was examined as PW 1, received secret information
against the accused that the accused was in the habit of selling
chura post (poppy husk) in his house and if a raid is conducted
upon the house of the accused, the accused can be caught red-
handed with the contraband. One Nacchatter Singh is stated
to have been associated with the raiding party which raided the
house of the accused. However, this witness was declared
hostile before the Court during his examination. On
conducting a search, five bags were found lying concealed
under a heap of chaff in the courtyard of the house of the
accused. On suspicion of having some intoxicant in his
possession, the Investigating Officer served notice upon the
accused under Section 50 of the Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short ‘NDPS Act’) giving
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him an offer to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or a
Magistrate. Accused is stated to have responded to such
notice vide Ext. PC/1 where he expressed his desire to be
searched before a Gazetted Officer of the police. Upon
having known the desired choice of the accused, it is stated
that PW1 had sent an application, Ext. PD, to the Deputy
Superintendent of Police, Dabwali, through Constable Amir
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Singh requesting him to reach the spot. Mr. Jagdish Nagar,
DSP, reached the spot after about half an hour and upon his
instruction the search of the bags was conducted. From each
gunny bag, 100 grams of chura post was separated as sample.
The samples as well as the remaining gunny bags weighed 39
kgs. and 900 grams each and were sealed with the seal
bearing impressions JN and NL, and thereafter were taken into
possession vide recovery memo Ext. PE. The seal NL was
handed over to HC Hoshiar Singh while seal JN was retained by
the DSP himself. After completing this process, a ruqa Ex. PF
was sent to the police station where the FIR being Ext. PF/1 was
registered under Sections 15/16/61/85 of NDPS Act. The
Investigating Officer prepared a site plan Ext. PG. On return to
the police station, the case property was handed over to the
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MHC with its seals intact. After receiving the test report Ext.
PH from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Haryana, Madhuban
(Karnal) and after completing all other formalities, the challan
was filed. The challan in terms of Section 173 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short “Cr.PC”) was presented
before the court of competent jurisdiction. The prosecution
examined a number of witnesses including PW1 Nand Lal, PW2
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Jagdish Nagar, DSP and PW Nachhattar Singh. Affidavits of
Nihan Singh, Head Constable and Tejas Singh, Constable (Ext.
PA and PB respectively) were taken into evidence. The
accused took the plea that he had been falsely implicated in
the case at the instance of Harnand Singh, Ex-Member of the
Block Samiti of the area and examined four witnesses in
support of his case. The Trial Court vide its judgment of
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conviction dated 4 July, 1998 held the accused guilty of an
offence punishable under Section 15 of NDPS Act and after
hearing the party on the quantum of sentence vide its order
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dated 6 July, 1998 awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment
to the accused with fine Rs. 1 lakh and in the event of default
to undergo simple imprisonment for another two years. The
legality and correctness of the judgment and order of sentence
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was challenged by the accused before the High Court.
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3. The High Court vide its detailed judgment dated 27
March, 2008 declined to interfere with the judgment of the Trial
Court and while upholding the same, maintained the order of
sentence, giving rise to the filing of the present appeal.
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4. The only contention raised before us on behalf of the
appellant is that the case of the prosecution must fail for total
non-compliance of the statutory provisions of Section 42 of
NDPS Act. These provisions are mandatory and in the present
case, there is admittedly no compliance of the said provisions,
thus the accused is entitled to acquittal as the whole case of
the prosecution is vitiated in law.
5. To the contra, the contention on behalf of the State is that
there is substantial compliance of the provisions of Section 42
of NDPS Act and therefore, the concurrent judgments of
conviction and order of sentence do not call for any
interference.
6. In order to examine the merit or otherwise of the above
contention, it is necessary for us to discuss the entire gamut of
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the prosecution evidence.
7. At this stage, it will be useful to refer to the relevant
statement of ASI Nand Lal, PW1 who is stated to have
received a secret information, proceeded to raid the house of
the accused and recovered the chura post as noticed above:
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“On 04.02.1994, I was posted as Incharge of
CIA Staff, Dabwali. On that day, I alongwith
Hoshiar Singh H.C. Suraj Bhan H.C. and other
police officials was present at village Jogewala
in connection with patrolling and detection of
crimes. Then, I received a secret information
that the accused present in the court is in the
habit of selling churapost and if a raid is
conducted at the once, churapost could be
recovered from him. On receipt of this
information, I formed a raiding party and when
I reached near the school of village Panniwala
Morika, Nicchattar Singh son of Sunder Singh
met me and he was joined in the raiding party
and then the raiding party reached the house
of the accused. The accused was found
present in the court-yard of his house and at
that time, he was sitting on a cot. Then, I
conducted the house search of the accused
and on search five bags lying under the heap
of Turi were recovered which were lying in the
court-yard of the house of the accused. Then,
I served a notice Ex. PC on the accused on the
suspicion of his having possessed some
narcotic substance in these five gunny bags,
offering him the search of the bags before any
Gazetted Officer of Police or a Magistrate. The
accused as per his reply Ex.PC/1 desired the
search of the gunny bags before any Gazetted
Officer of Police. Ex. PC and Ex. PC/1 were
signed by the accused and attested by PWs
H.C. Suraj Bhan and Hoshiar Singh and
Nachittar Singh independent witness. Then I
sent a written application Ex.PD through
constable Amir Singh to DSP Dabwali
requesting him to reach on the spot.
Thereafter, the DSP Dabwali reached at the
spot after half an hour and then on his
instructions, I conducted the search of the five
gunny bags in the presence of PWs. Poppy
straw was found in it. 100 grams churapost
was separated as samples from each gunny
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bags. The remaining on weighment was found
to be 39 kgs. 900 grams in each gunny bag.
The samples and the gunny bags remaining
churapost were sealed with the seals NL and
JN and were taken into possession vide
recovery memo Ex. PE attested by DSP Jegdish
Nagar, Nichhatar Singh, Suraj Bhan H.C. Seal
NL after use was handed over to Hoshiar Singh
H.C., while the seal JN was retained by the DSP
himself I sent ruqa Ex. PF to the Police-Station
for registration of a case on which for-mail FIR
Ex.PF/1 was recorded by Shri Davinder Kumar
ASI whose signatures I identify.”
8. It is clear from the statement of PW1 that he, upon
receiving the secret information, neither reduced the same in
writing nor communicated to his senior officer about receiving
the secret information as required under Section 42 of NDPS
Act.
9. In his cross-examination, he admitted that he had
received the secret information at about 11.30 a.m. at Village
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Jogewala. He did not know from where the secret information
was received. He was in a jeep. The distance between the
house of the accused and the spot where he was at the time of
receiving the secret information was merely 6 kilometers, but
he reached the house of the accused only at 2 p.m. He also
admitted that the house of the accused was situated in the
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middle of the village in a busy locality, and yet he did not call
anybody from the neighbourhood at the time of effecting
recovery.
10. According to the learned counsel appearing for the State,
there was substantial compliance inasmuch as after effecting
the recovery he had sent a ruqa Ext. PF to his senior officer, on
the basis of which the FIR Ext. PF/1 was registered and thus,
there was substantial compliance of the provisions of Section
42 of NDPS Act. This aspect has also been considered by the
High Court and while accepting the contention of the State as
to substantial compliance of the provisions of Section 42 of
NDPS Act, the High Court in the judgment impugned herein
noticed as under:-
“9-A.In the instant case too, a secret
information, was received by Nand Lal, ASI
on 4.2.1994, when he alongwith Hoshiar
Singh, HC, Suraj Bhan and other police
officials, was present in village Jogewala, in
connection with patrol duty, and detection of
crime. It means that Nand Lal, ASI, was in
motion, at the time, when he received the
secret information, against the accused.
Since, the secret informer had informed
Nand Lal, ASI that if a raid was conducted
immediately, then a big haul of contraband,
could be recovered from the house of the
accused, where he was present. It was his
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bounden duty, to immediately rush to the
disclosed place, to detect the accused with
contraband. It was, in this view of the
matter, that he had no time to record the
information, and send the same to the
Officer Superior, as had he done so, there
would have been every possibility of the
accuse absconding, and the purpose of the
very raid would have been defeated.
However, he substantially complied the
provisions of Section 42 of the Act, by
recording the ruqa, embodying the secret
information therein, as also by sending the
message to the DSP, to come to the spot, as
a result whereof, he came to the spot.
Since, there was substantial compliance,
with the provisions of Section 42 of the Act,
it could not be said that there was
intentional and deliberate non-compliance
thereof strictly. On account of this reason,
the case of the prosecution cannot be
thrown out. The principle of law, laid down
in Sajan Abraha’s case (supra), a case
decided by three Judge Bench of the Apex
Court, is, thus, fully applicable to the facts of
the present case. In this view of the matter,
fully applicable to the facts of the present
case. In this view of the matter, the
submission of the Counsel for the appellant,
in this regard, does not appear to be correct,
and stands rejected.”
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11. We may notice that the High Court, while arriving at the
above conclusion, appears to have relied upon the judgment of
this Court in the case of Sajan Abraham v. State of Kerala
[(2001) 6 SCC 692].
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12. The High Court has proceeded apparently on the basis of
substantial compliance of the provisions. The concept of
substantial compliance appears to have been construed on the
basis that PW1 had sent a ruqa and had informed about the
recovery effected on the basis of which the FIR was registered.
All these are post-recovery steps taken by PW1.
13. Now, the question that arises for consideration is as
to at what stage and by what time the authorized officer
should comply with the requirements of Section 42 of
the Act and report the matter to his superior officer.
For this purpose, we must refer to Section 42 of the
NDPS Act at his stage :
“Section 42—Power of entry, search,
seizure and arrest without warrant or
authorisation—(1) Any such officer
(being an officer superior in rank to a
peon, sepoy or constable) of the
departments of central excise,
narcotics, customs, revenue
intelligence or any other department
of the Central Government including
para-military forces or armed forces as
is empowered in this behalf by general
or special order by the Central
Government, or any such officer (being
an officer superior in rank to a peon,
sepoy or constable) of the revenue,
drugs control, excise, police or any
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other department of a State
Government as is empowered in this
behalf by general or special order of
the State Government, if he has
reason to believe from persons
knowledge or information given by any
person and taken down in writing that
any narcotic drug, or psychotropic
substance, or controlled substance in
respect of which an offence punishable
under this Act has been committed or
any document or other article which
may furnish evidence of the
commission of such offence or any
illegally acquired property or any
document or other article which may
furnish evidence of holding any
illegally acquired property which is
liable for seizure or freezing or
forfeiture under Chapter VA of this Act
is kept or concealed in any building,
conveyance or enclosed place, may
between sunrise and sunset,--
(a) enter into and search any such
building, conveyance or place;
(b) in case of resistance, break
open any door and remove any
obstacle to such entry;
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(c) seize such drug or substance
and all materials used in the
manufacture thereof and any
other article and any animal or
conveyance which he has reason
to believe to be liable to
confiscation under this Act and
any document or other article
which he has reason to believe
may furnish evidence of the
commission of any offence
punishable under this Act or
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furnish evidence of holding any
illegally acquired property which
is liable for seizure or freezing or
forfeiture under Chapter VA of
this Act; and
(d) detain and search, and, if he
thinks proper, arrest any person
whom he has reason to believe to
have committed any offence
punishable under this Act:
Provided that if such officer has
reason to believe that a search
warrant or authorisation cannot
be obtained without affording
opportunity for the concealment
of evidence or facility for the
escape of an offender, he may
enter and search such building,
conveyance or enclosed place at
any time between sunset and
sunrise after recording the
grounds of his belief.
(2) Where an officer takes down any
information in writing under sub-
section (1) or records grounds for his
belief under the proviso thereto, he
shall within seventy-two hours send a
copy thereof to his immediate official
superior.”
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14. Section 42 can be divided into two different parts.
First is the power of entry, search seizure and arrest
without warrant or authorisation as contemplated under
sub-section (1) of the said section. Second is reporting
of the information reduced to writing to a higher officer
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in consonance with sub-section (2) of that section. Sub-
section (2) of Section 42 had been a matter of judicial
interpretation as well as of legislative concern in the
past. Sub-section (2) was amended by the Parliament
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vide Act 9 of 2001 with effect from 2 October, 2001.
After amendment of this sub-section, the words
‘forthwith’ stood amended by the words ‘within 72
hours’. In other words, whatever ambiguity or leverage
was provided for under the unamended provision, was
clarified and resultantly, absolute certainty was brought
in by binding the officer concerned to send the
intimation to the superior officers within 72 hours from
the time of receipt of information. The amendment is
suggestive of the legislative intent that information
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must reach the superior officer not only expeditiously or
forthwith but definitely within the time contemplated
under the amended sub-section (2) of Section 42. This,
in our opinion, provides a greater certainty to the time
in which the action should be taken as well as renders
the safeguards provided to an accused more
meaningful. In the present case, the information was
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received by the empowered officer on 4 February, 1994
when the unamended provision was in force. The law as
it existed at the time of commission of the offence
would be the law which will govern the rights and
obligations of the parties under the NDPS Act. In the
case of Basheer @ N.P. Basheer v. State of Kerala
[(2004) 3 SCC 609] wherein this Court was concerned
with the Amending Act 9 of 2001 of the NDPS Act, the
Court took the view that application of the Amending
Act, where the trial had been concluded and appeal was
pending on the date of its commencement and where
the accused had been tried and convicted, would not
apply. The contention that trials were not held in
accordance with law was not sustainable for the reason
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that there could be direct and deleterious consequences
of applying the amending provisions of the Act to trials
which had concluded in which appeals were filed prior to
the date of Amending Act coming into force. This would
certainly defeat the first object of avoiding delay in such
trials. Another Bench of this Court in the case of
Jawahar Singh @ Bhagat Ji. v. State of GNCT of Delhi
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[(2009) 6 SCC 490], while dealing with the amendments
of Section 21 of the NDPS Act, the Court took the view
that amendments made by Act 9 of 2001 could not be
given retrospective effect as if it was so given, it would
warrant a retrial which is not the object of the Act. The
Court held as under :
“9. It is now beyond any doubt or
dispute that the quantum of
punishment to be inflicted on an
accused upon recording a judgment of
conviction would be as per the law
which was prevailing at the relevant
time. As on the date of commission of
the offence and/or the date of
conviction, there was no distinction
between a small quantity and a
commercial quantity, question of
infliction of a lesser sentence by
reason of the provisions of the
amending Act, in our considered
opinion, would not arise.
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10. It is also a well-settled principle of
law that a substantive provision
unless specifically provided for or
otherwise intended by Parliament
should be held to have a prospective
operation. One of the facets of the rule
of law is also that all statutes should
be presumed to have a prospective
operation only.”
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15. No law can be interpreted so as to frustrate the
very basic rule of law. It is a settled principle of
interpretation of criminal jurisprudence that the
provisions have to be strictly construed and cannot be
given a retrospective effect unless legislative intent and
expression is clear beyond ambiguity. The amendments
to criminal law would not intend that there should be
undue delay in disposal of criminal trials or there should
be retrial just because the law has changed. Such an
approach would be contrary to the doctrine of finality as
well as avoidance of delay in conclusion of criminal trial.
16. Still, reference can be made to the judgment of this
Court in the case of Ravinder Singh v. State of Himachal
Pradesh [(2009) 14 SCC 201], wherein this Court was
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dealing with the question as to what would be the law
applicable for imposition of a sentence irrespective of
when the trial was concluded with reference to Article
21 of the Act and provision of the Punjab Excise Act,
1914 as applicable and amended by H.P. Act 8 of 1995
where punishment was enhanced and minimum
sentenced was provided. The Court held that it is trite
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law that the sentence imposable on the date of
commission of the offence has to determine the
sentence imposable on completion of trial’.
17. Even in the case of Hari Ram v. State of Rajasthan &
Ors. [(2009) 13 SCC 211], this Court stated with
reference to the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care
and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (as amended by
Act of 2006) that the relevant date for applicability of
the Act so as the age of the accused, who claims to be a
child, is concerned, is the date of occurrence and not the
date of trial.
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18. In the present case, the occurrence was of 4
February, 1994. The Trial of the accused concluded by
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judgment of conviction dated 4 July, 1998. Thus, it will
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be the unamended Section 42(2) of the NDPS Act that
would govern the present case. The provisions of
Section 42 are intended to provide protection as well as
lay down a procedure which is mandatory and should be
followed positively by the Investigating Officer. He is
obliged to furnish the information to his superior officer
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forthwith. That obviously means without any delay. But
there could be cases where the Investigating Officer
instantaneously, for special reasons to be explained in
writing, is not able to reduce the information into
writing and send the said information to his superior
officers but could do it later and preferably prior to
recovery. Compliance of Section 42 is mandatory and
there cannot be an escape from its strict compliance.
19. This question is no more res integra and stands fully
answered by the Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in
Karnail Singh v. State of Haryana [(2009) 8 SCC 539]. The
Constitution Bench had the occasion to consider the conflict
between the two judgments i.e. in the case of Abdul Rashid
Ibrahim Mansuri v. State of Gujarat [(2000) 2 SCC 513] and
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Sajan Abraham (supra) and held as under:-
“ 35. In conclusion, what is to be noticed is
that Abdul Rashid did not require literal
compliance with the requirements of
Sections 42(1) and 42(2) nor did Sajan
Abraham hold that the requirements of
Sections 42(1) and 42(2) need not be
fulfilled at all. The effect of the two
decisions was as follows:
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( a ) The officer on receiving the
information [of the nature referred to in
sub-section (1) of Section 42] from any
person had to record it in writing in the
register concerned and forthwith send a
copy to his immediate official superior,
before proceeding to take action in terms of
clauses ( a ) to ( d ) of Section 42(1).
( b ) But if the information was received
when the officer was not in the police
station, but while he was on the move
either on patrol duty or otherwise, either by
mobile phone, or other means, and the
information calls for immediate action and
any delay would have resulted in the goods
or evidence being removed or destroyed, it
would not be feasible or practical to take
down in writing the information given to
him, in such a situation, he could take
action as per clauses ( a ) to ( d ) of Section
42(1) and thereafter, as soon as it is
practical, record the information in writing
and forthwith inform the same to the official
superior.
( c ) In other words, the compliance with
the requirements of Sections 42(1) and
42(2) in regard to writing down the
information received and sending a copy
thereof to the superior officer, should
normally precede the entry, search and
seizure by the officer. But in special
circumstances involving emergent
situations, the recording of the information
in writing and sending a copy thereof to the
official superior may get postponed by a
reasonable period, that is, after the search,
entry and seizure. The question is one of
urgency and expediency.
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( d ) While total non-compliance with
requirements of sub-sections (1) and (2) of
Section 42 is impermissible, delayed
compliance with satisfactory explanation
about the delay will be acceptable
compliance with Section 42. To illustrate, if
any delay may result in the accused
escaping or the goods or evidence being
destroyed or removed, not recording in
writing the information received, before
initiating action, or non-sending of a copy of
such information to the official superior
forthwith, may not be treated as violation of
Section 42. But if the information was
received when the police officer was in the
police station with sufficient time to take
action, and if the police officer fails to
record in writing the information received,
or fails to send a copy thereof, to the official
superior, then it will be a suspicious
circumstance being a clear violation of
Section 42 of the Act. Similarly, where the
police officer does not record the
information at all, and does not inform the
official superior at all, then also it will be a
clear violation of Section 42 of the Act.
Whether there is adequate or substantial
compliance with Section 42 or not is a
question of fact to be decided in each case.
The above position got strengthened with
the amendment to Section 42 by Act 9 of
2001.”
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20. Having referred to the above settled principle of law, we
are unable to accept the contention raised on behalf of the
State and have to grant our approval to the submission made
on behalf of the appellant.
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21. As per the statement of PW1, no effort was made by him
to reduce the information into writing and inform his higher
authorities instantaneously or even after a reasonable delay
which has to be explained with reasons in writing. On the
contrary, in the present case, the Investigating Officer PW 1
had more than sufficient time at his disposal to comply with the
provisions of Section 42. Admittedly, he had received the
secret information at 11.30 a.m., but he reached the house of
the accused at 2 p.m. even when the distance was only 6
kilometers away and he was in a jeep. There is not an iota of
evidence, either in the statement of PW 1 or in any other
documentary form, to show what the Investigating Officer was
doing for these two hours and what prevented him from
complying with the provisions of Section 42 of NDPS Act.
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22. There is patent illegality in the case of the prosecution and
such illegality is incurable. This is a case of total non-
compliance, thus the question of substantial compliance would
not even arise for consideration of the Court in the present
case. The twin purpose of the provisions of Section 42 which
can broadly be stated are that : (a) it is a mandatory provision
which ought to be construed and complied strictly; and (b)
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compliance of furnishing information to the superior officer
should be forthwith or within a very short time thereafter and
preferably post-recovery.
23. Once the contraband is recovered, then there are other
provisions like Section 57 which the empowered officer is
mandatorily required to comply with. That itself to some extent
would minimize the purpose and effectiveness of Section 42 of
the NDPS Act. It is to provide fairness in the process of
recovery and investigation which is one of the basic features of
our criminal jurisprudence. It is a kind of prevention of false
implication of innocent persons. The legislature in its wisdom
had made the provisions of Section 42 of NDPS Act mandatory
and not optional as stated by this Court in the case of Karnail
Singh ( supra ).
JUDGMENT
24. Thus, the present appeal merits grant of relief to the
accused. We accordingly set aside the judgment of the High
Court as well as the Trial Court and acquit the accused of an
offence under Section 15 of NDPS Act. We direct the accused
to be set at liberty forthwith, if not required in any other case.
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25. Before we part with this file, we consider it the duty of the
Court to direct the Director General of Police concerned of all
the States to issue appropriate instructions directing the
investigating officers to duly comply with the provisions of
Section 42 of NDPS Act at the appropriate stage to avoid such
acquittals. Compliance to the provisions of Section 42 being
mandatory, it is the incumbent duty of every investigating
officer to comply with the same in true substance and spirit in
consonance with the law stated by this Court in the case of
Karnail Singh ( supra ).
26. The Registry shall send a copy of this judgment to all the
Director Generals of Police of the States for immediate
compliance.
27. The appeal is accordingly allowed.
JUDGMENT
……...…………......................J.
(Swatanter Kumar)
..…….…………......................J.
(Madan B. Lokur)
New Delhi,
December 13, 2012
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