NDPS Act | Calcutta High Court Suspends Conviction After Noting Raiding Officer Mixed Seized Contraband

The Calcutta High Court, on Thursday (January 22), suspended the conviction of two men under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, noting that the Raiding Officer/ Office making inventory had mixed the seized contraband packets even though the law does not authorise the same. The bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray observed,"There is no material to show when and how the said 80 packets were mixed up and who ordered for such mixture. This goes against basic duties of the Raiding Officers/Officers making inventory to classify and make separate arrangements for seized contraband items. The Law does not allow the seizing or the Officer making inventory to mix up the seized contrabands". The convicted individuals have been in judicial custody for 2 years and 10 months. It was claimed that the police authorities failed to follow the procedure mentioned under Section 50 of the NDPS Act, which provides the conditions under which a search of a person can be conducted.The appellants argued that the concerned officer improperly sampled the seized contraband, violating the Standing Order 1 of 1989, which prescribes the mandatory procedure for the seizure, sampling, storage, and disposal of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances under the Act. It was further contended that although 80 packets of the contraband were allegedly seized, only a few samples were drawn after mixing the packets. The counsel for the State asserted that the contraband was received from a secret chamber of the vehicle and was not from the appellants' persons, and therefore, Section 50 would not be applicable. It was further argued that the search was conducted in the presence of a Gazetted Officer. The bench noted that 81.303 kgs of Ganja was recovered from the vehicle of the appellants and that the search and seizure was videotaped and conducted before a Gazetted Officer. It further noted that the certificate under Section 52A of the Act was issued by the Judicial Magistrate. From the material placed on record, the court observed that 80 packets were recovered and only 24 grams of seized contraband were sent for forensic examination. The court noted that the said 8 packets of contraband were mixed up and taken to the Judicial Magistrate for inventory and certification purposes. The bench noted that no evidence showed when, how and upon whose orders such packets were mixed. The bench held that the said conduct of the Raiding Officer goes against his basic duties. The court took serious note of the fact that although the search and seizure were conducted in the presence of a Gazetted Officer, he was neither examined as a witness nor his presence at the spot could be ascertained from other reliable documents. The bench observed, "Therefore, as the prosecution is unable to show that the said 80 packets seized by them during raid were properly classified weighed and sampled and as the said drugs appear to have been mixed up without the order of the competent authority, we find that the appellants have been able to make out an arguable case in their favour". The bench, therefore, suspended the conviction order and granted bail to the convicted men.Case Title: Nishikanta Hawladar & Soumen Mondal v State of West Bengal [CRA (DB) 280 OF 2025]For Appellants: Advocate Abu Zar AliFor State: Additional Public Prosecutor Anasuya Sinha with Advocates Ranadeb Sengupta and Karan BapuliClick here to read/download the Order

NDPS Act | Calcutta High Court Suspends Conviction After Noting Raiding Officer Mixed Seized Contraband

Jayanti Pahwa

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