Unlawful Arrest Vitiates Medical Exam Under BNSS: Karnataka High Court Quashes NDPS FIR Against Woman Over 'Ellavoma' Drug Raid

The Karnataka High Court quashed an FIR against a woman booked in an NDPS case concerning a raid conducted at a birthday party in Ellavoma Farm last May.

In doing so the court noted that the arrest of the petitioner was unlawful and thus conduct of medical exam under Section 51 BNSS was vitiated.

For context, Section 51 BNSS prescribes the procedure for examination of an accused by a medical practitioner, at the request of police officer.

The single judge bench of Justice M.Nagaprasanna in his order dictated:

“Section 51 of BNSS, which governs medical examination, can only be invoked upon the presence of a lawful arrest. In the absence of such arrest, the collection of blood samples are unlawful. The lawful arrest necessitates strict compliance with statutory safeguards including communication of grounds of arrest… Where a blood sample is produced pursuant to an illegal arrest, the resulting medical and forensic reports stand vitiated and cannot be relied on. The charge in the present case is founded upon the alleged consumption of a narcotic substance as inferred from the blood sample. Once the blood sample itself is illegally obtained, the substratum of the prosecution case fails. The criminal petition is allowed”.

A detailed copy of the order is awaited.

Previously, on March 16, the Karnataka High Court asked questions over an alleged discrepancy in the manner in which biological samples were taken from an accused in the 'Ellavoma' Farm Raid back in May 2025.

The quashing petition was filed by one of the accused, a woman from Bengaluru, in the case pending before the Special Court for NDPS Cases.

The charges levelled against the accused-petitioner include Sections 20(b), 22(a), and 27(B) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and Sections 292, 296, 3(5), and 111(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Previously the court had orally asked the State, “Without arrest, how did you conduct a medical examination. If you have arrested, what are the grounds of arrest? And if you have not arrested, how did you take blood samples? At least an arrest memo should be there. If they have taken her to custody and released her, there should be some procedure".

According to the State, the Police had recovered hashish, cocaine, hydroponic ganja and other narcotic substances from the raid. According to the petitioner's counsel, none was recovered from her.

The petitioner's counsel, advocates Abhimanyu Devaiah and Akhil Atiq, argued that the petitioner has not been served with the grounds of arrest or arrest memo. The counsel also added that Section 51 BNSS underscores that medical examination can be conducted only on a person who has been arrested within the confines of the law.

During the raid, the police rightly conducted the body search, acceded the petitioners. However, the procedural rigours would apply when it comes to the securing and examination of body samples by medical practitioners, at the request of police officers, they added.

No contraband was recovered from the person of the petitioner. Her name doesn't find a place in the seizure mahazar as well, the counsel argued.

On 25.05.2025, the petitioner, who was allegedly a guest at the birthday party, was taken into 'custody' and 'released on the same day'. But to show the arrest of the accused-petitioner, no documents are available, added the counsel.

The State responded that the accused, one among the 31 persons detained, was taken into custody, her statements were recorded, and an FIR was drawn. After medical examination, she was released; blood and urine samples were sent for FSL, said the government advocate.

Case Title: Smt. Eman Abbas Topiwala vs. State of Karnataka

Case No: Crl. P. 3020/2026