UNION OF INDIA versus MOHANLAL & ANR.

Citation: [2016] 1 S.C.R. 651 · Decided: 28-01-2016 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: T.S. THAKUR

Cited by 4 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

[2016) 1 S.C.R. 651 
UNION OF INDIA 
v. 
MOHANLAL & ANR. 
(Criminal Appeal No. 652 of2012) 
JANUARY 28, 2016 
[T. S. THAKUR, CJI. AND KURIAN JOSEPH, J.) 
National Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 -
s.52A - Seizure, storage and disposal of psychotropic substances -
Standing Order 1189 dated 13.6.1989 prescribing procedure for 
conducting seizure and disposal of the contraband - Standing orders 
dated 10.5.2007 a71d 16.1.2015 prescribing procedure for disposal 
and destruction of seized contraband - Non-observance of uniform 
practice or procedure by the States or the Central Agencies in the 
matter of drawing samples - No provision in the Act regulating 
storage of the contraband- Standing Order dated 16.1.2015 not 
superseding the previous Standing Order 1189 - Held: There is no 
provision in the Act mandating taking of samples at the time of seizure 
- There is conflict between statutory provision and the standing 
order regarding taking of samples - Central Government directed . 
to re-examine the matter and take suitable steps in this direction -
An application for sampling and certification needs to be made 
without undue delay and .the Magistrate on receipt of any such 
application is expected to attend to ·the application within reasonable 
period without undue delay - High Courts to keep a close watch on 
the performance of the Magistrates - Central Government and the 
State agencies have not established any notified storage faci/ity-
godown for storage of seized drugs with proper system of supervision 
and control over the stored drugs - Such failure shows a complete 
failure bordering criminal negligence by officers who are supposed 
to be taking action in this regard - Direction issued to the Central 
Government and State agencies to set up adequate storage facilities 
with effective supervisory and regulatory controls as prescribed 
under standing Order 1189 - The Standing Order 1189 would be 
treated to have been superseded to the extent the subsequent 
Standing Order dated 16.01.2015 prescribes a different procedure 
for destruction/disposal of seized contrabands - Direction to dispose 
of the contraband in the manner specified in the present judgment 
651 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
652 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2016] l S.C.R. 
- The Chief Justices of the High Courts are requested to appoint a 
Committee of Judges on the administrative side to supervise and 
monitor progress made by the respective States in regard to the 
compliance with the direction in the- present case. 
Ad,journing the matter, the Court 
HELD: 1.1 Section 52-A(l) of the National Drugs and 
Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 empowers the Central 
Government to prescribe by a Notification the procedure to be 
followed for seizure, storage and disposal of drugs and 
psychotropic substances. The Central Government have in 
exercise of that power issued Standing Order No. 1189 which 
prescribes the procedure to be followed while conducting seizure 
of the contraband. Two subsequent stantling orders one dated 
10.05.2007 and the other dated 16.01.2015 deal with disposal 
and destruction of seized contraband and do not alter or add to 
the earlier standing order that prescribes the procedure for 
conducting seizures. [Para 11] [683-F-H] 
1.2 Para 2.2 of the Standing Order 1/89 states that samples 
must be taken from the seized contrabands on the spot at the 
time of recovery itself. There is no uniform practice or procedure 
being followed by the States or the Central agencies in the matter 
of drawing of samples. This is, therefore, an area that needs to 
be suitably addressed in the light of the statutory provisions which 
ought to b" strictly observed given the seriousness of the offences 
under the Act and the punishment prescribed by law in case the 
same are proved. The Court proposes to deal with the issue in 
an attempt to remove the confusion that prevails regarding the 
true position as regards drawing of samples. [Para 11] [683-H; 
684-A, DJ 
1.3 Section 52A as amended by Act 16 of 2014, deals with 
disposal of seized drugs and psychotropic substances. In view of 
s. 52A(2)(c) no sooner the seizure is effected and the contraband 
forwarded to the officer in charge of the Police Station or the 
officer empowered, the officer concerned is, in law, duty hound 
to approach the Magistrate for the purposes of (a) certifying the 
correctness of the inventory (b) certifying photographs of such 
drugs or sub

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.