Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 - Procedure

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CHAPTER V - PROCEDURE

  41.  Power to issue warrant and authorisation.

            (1)  A Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class or any Magistrate of the second class specially empowered by the State Government in this behalf, may issue a warrant for the arrest of any person whom he has reason to believe to have committed any offence punishable under Chapter IV, or for the search, whether by day or by night, of any building, conveyance or place in which he has reason to believe any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance in respect of which an offence punishable under Chapter IV has been committed or any document or other article which may furnish evidence  of the commission of such offence is kept or concealed.

            (2)  Any such officer  of gazetted  rank of  the departments of central excise,  narcotics, customs, revenue intelligence or any other department of the Central  Government or of the Border Security Force as is empowered in this behalf by general  or special order by the Central Government, or any such officer of the revenue, drugs control, excise, police  or any  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 personal knowledge or information given by any person and taken in writing that any person has committed  an offence  punishable under  Chapter IV  or  that  any narcotic drug, or psychotropic substance in respect of which any offence punishable under Chapter IV has been committed or any document or other article which may furnish evidence of the commission of such offence has been kept  or concealed in any building, conveyance or  place, may  authorise any  officer subordinate  to him but superior in rank to a peon, sepoy, or a constable, to arrest such a person or search a building, conveyance or place whether by day or by nigh or himself arrest a person or search a building, conveyance or place.

             (3)   The  officer to  whom a  warrant  under sub-section  (1)  is addressed and  the officer  who authorised the arrest or search or the officer who  is so authorised under sub-section (2) shall have all the powers of an officer acting under section 42.

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 or of the Border Security Force as is embowered 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 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 personal knowledge or information given by any person and taken down in  writing,  that  any  narcotic  drug,  or psychotropic substance,  in respect  of which  an  offence  punishable under Chapter  IV has  been committed or any document or other article which may  furnish evidence  of the commission of such offence 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;

                        (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 Chapter IV relating to such drug or substance:

         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 forthwith send a copy thereof to his immediate official superior.

43.  Power of seizure and arrest in public places.

       Any officer of any of the departments mentioned in section 42 may –

            (a)   seize, in any  public place or in transit, any narcotic drug or  psychotropic substance in respect of which he has reason to believe  an offence  punishable under Chapter  IV has been committed, and,  along with such drug or substance, any animal or conveyance or  article 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 an offence punishable under Chapter IV relating to such drug or substance;

            (b)  detain  and search any person  whom he  has  reason  to believe to have committed an offence punishable under Chapter IV, and, if  such  person  has  any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance in his possession and such possession appears to him to be unlawful, arrest him and any other person in his company.

          Explanation.-- For the purposes of  this section,  the expression "public place" includes any  public conveyance, hotel, shop, or other place intended for use by, or accessible to the public.

44.  Power of entry, search, seizure and arrest in offences relating to coca plant, opium poppy and cannabis plant.

       The provisions of sections 41, 42 and 43, shall so far as may be, apply in relation to the offence punishable under Chapter IV and relating to coca plant, the opium poppy or cannabis plant and for this purpose references in those sections to narcotic drugs, or psychotropic substance, shall be construed as including references to coca plant, the opium poppy and cannabis plant.

45. Procedure where seizure of goods liable to confiscation not practicable.

      Where it is not practicable to seize any goods (including standing crop) which are liable to confiscation under this Act, any officer duly authorised under section 42 may serve on the owner or person in possession of the goods, an order that he shall not remove, part with or otherwise deal with the goods except with the previous permission of such officer.

46.  Duty of land holder to give information of illegal cultivation.

            very older of land shall give immediate information to any officer of the Police or of any of the departments mentioned in section 42  of all the opium poppy, cannabis plant or coca plant which may be illegally cultivated within his land and every such holder of and who  knowingly neglects to give such information, shall be liable to punishment.

47.  Duty of certain officers to give information of illegal cultivation.

            Every officer of the Government and every panch, sarpanch and other village officer of whatever description shall give immediate information to any officer of the Police or of any of the departments mentioned in  section 42  when it may come  to his knowledge that any land has  been illegally  cultivated with  the opium poppy, cannabis plant or  coca plant, and every such officer of the Government, panch, sarpanch and   other  village  officer who neglects to give such information shall be liable to punishment.

48.  Power of attachment of crop illegally cultivated.

            Any Metropolitan Magistrate, Judicial Magistrate of the first class or any Magistrate specially  empowered in this behalf by the State Government [or  any  officer of a  gazetted  rank  empowered  under  section  42] may order  attachment of any opium poppy, cannabis plant or coca plant which he  has reason  to believe to have been illegally cultivated and while doing  so may pass such order (including an order to destroy the crop) as he thinks fit.

 49. Power to stop and search conveyance.

            Any officer authorised under section 42, may, if he has reason to suspect that any animal or conveyance is, or is about to be, used for the transport of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, in respect of which he suspects that any provision of this Act has been, or is being, or is about to be, contravened at any time, stop such animal or conveyance, or, in the case of an aircraft, compel it to land and –

            (a)   rummage and search the conveyance or part thereof;

            (b)   examine  and search  any goods  on the  animal or in the conveyance;

            (c)   if it becomes necessary to stop  the animal or the conveyance, he may use all lawful means for stopping it, and where such means fail, the animal or the conveyance may be fired upon.

50.  Conditions under which search of persons shall be conducted.

           (1) When any officer duly authorised under section 42 is about to search any person under the provisions of section 41, section 42 or section 43, he shall, if such  person so  requires, take such person without unnecessary delay to nearest Gazetted  Officer of any of the departments mentioned in section 42 or to the nearest Magistrate.

           (2)   If such requisition  is made,  the officer  may  detain  the person until  he can  bring him  before the  Gazetted Officer  or  the Magistrate referred to in sub-section (1).

            (3)  The Gazetted Officer or the Magistrate before whom any such person is brought shall, if he sees no reasonable ground for search, forthwith discharge the person but otherwise shall direct that search be made.

            (4)  No female shall be searched by anyone excepting a female.

51. Provisions of the code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to apply to warrants, arrests, searches and seizures.

       The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) shall apply, in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, to all warrants issued  and arrests, searches and  seizures made  under this Act.

52. Disposal of persons arrested and articles seized.

            (1)   Any officer arresting a person under section 41, section 42, section 43 or section 44 shall, as soon as may be, inform him of the grounds for such arrest.

            (2)   Every person arrested and article seized under warrant issued under sub-section (1) of section 41 shall be forwarded without unnecessary delay to the Magistrate by whom the warrant was issued.

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1.   Ins. by Act 2 of 1989, s. 13 (w.e.f. 29-5-1989).

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             (3)  Every person arrested and article seized under sub-section (2) of section 41, section 42, section 43  or section  44 shall be forwarded without unnecessary delay to –

                        (a) the officer-in-charge of the nearest police station, or

                        (b) the officer empowered under section 53.

            (4) The authority or officer to whom any person or article is forwarded under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) shall, with all convenient despatch, take such measures as  may be necessary for the disposal according to law of such person or article.

  1*[52A. Disposal of seized narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

            (1)   The Central Government may, having regard to the hazardous nature of any narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, their vulnerability to theft, substitution, constraints of proper storage space or any other relevant considerations, by notification published in the Official Gazette, specify such narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or class of narcotic drugs or class of psychotropic substances  which shall, as soon as may be after their seizure, be disposed of by such officer and in such  manner as that Government may, from time, determine after following the procedure hereinafter specified.

            (2)  Where any  narcotic  drug or psychotropic substance has  been seized and forwarded to  the  officer-in-charge of the nearest  police station  or  to  the  officer empowered under section 53, the  officer referred  to in sub-section (1) shall  prepare  an inventory of  such narcotic  drugs or psychotropic substances containing such details relating to their description, quality, quantity,  mode  of  packing, marks, numbers or such other identifying  particulars of the narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or the  packing  in  which  they  are packed, country of origin and other particulars as  the  officer referred to in sub-section (1) may consider  relevant  to  the identity of the narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in any proceedings under this Act and make an application, to  any  Magistrate  for the purpose of –

                        (a)  certifying the correctness of the inventory so prepared; or

                        (b)  taking, in the presence of such magistrate, photographs of such drugs or substances  and  certifying  such photographs as true; or

                        (c)  allowing to draw representative samples of such drugs or substances, in  the presence of such magistrate and certifying the correctness of any list of samples so drawn.

            (3) Where an application is made under sub-section (2), the Magistrate shall, as soon as may be, allow the application.

            (4)  Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1972), or the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), every court trying an offence under this Act, shall treat the inventory, the photographs of narcotic drugs or   psychotropic substances and any list of samples drawn under sub-section (2) and certified by the Magistrate, as primary evidence in respect of such offence.] 

  53.  Power to invest officers of certain departments with powers of an officer-in-charge of a police station.

            (1)  The Central Government, after consultation with the State Government, may, by notification published in the Official Gazette, invest any officer of the department of central excise, narcotics, customs, revenue intelligence or Border Security Force or any class of such officers with the powers of an officer-in-charge of a police station for the investigation of the offences under this Act.

            (2)   The State Government may, by notification published in the Official Gazette,  invest any  officer  of  the department of drugs control, revenue or excise  or any  class of  such officers  with the powers of an officer-in-charge of a police station  for  the investigation of offences under this Act.  

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nsmehta, Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of

Does 'Viagra' comes under psychotropic substance or narcotic drugs or pornographic material.

kuldeep13-7-65, India

where are the rules of n d p s act

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