Lapses in drug sample verification under Section 52A NDPS Act not guarantee for bail: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that non-compliance with Section 52A of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) - which deals with how illegal drugs seized by the authorities are to be sampled and verified in the presence of a magistrate before being destroyed - by itself is not a ground for bail [Narcotics Control Bureau v. Kashif]..A Bench of Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma observed that Section 52A is only a procedural provision.As such, a delay in complying with the process outlined in this Section would not automatically affect the admissibility of the seized contraband as evidence or guarantee grant of bail to the accused, the Court said. "Sub-section (2) of Section 52A lays down the procedure as contemplated in sub-section (1) thereof, and any lapse or delayed compliance thereof would be merely a procedural irregularity which would neither entitle the accused to be released on bail nor would vitiate the trial on that ground alone. (v) Any procedural irregularity or illegality found to have been committed in conducting the search and seizure during the course of investigation or thereafter, would by itself not make the entire evidence collected during the course of investigation, inadmissible. The Court would have to consider all the circumstances and find out whether any serious prejudice has been caused to the accused," it held today..The Bench proceeded to set aside a May 2023 Delhi High Court ruling which had held that an application to a magistrate to draw and verify seized drug samples in the magistrate's presence under Section 52A should be made within 72 hours. The High Court had made the observation while granting bail to a man accused of smuggling narcotic tablets to the USA. The Supreme Court today allowed the appeal filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau against this High Court verdict. However, it did not cancel the bail granted to the accused man, but directed another Bench of the High Court decide on the matter again within four weeks. .The case stemmed from an investigation conducted by the NCB following a tip-off regarding a suspicious parcel at DHL Express Private Limited in New Delhi.On February 24, 2022, NCB officials discovered a parcel containing 13,200 strips of Tramadol tablets. The parcel was linked to an accused named Ganesh Chaudhary, who was apprehended shortly thereafter.After Ganesh was questioned, additional seizures were made, including 15,000 Zolpidem tablets and 19,440 Tramadol tablets from other locations.Another accused named Kashif was arrested on March 7, 2022, based on information provided by a co-accused Tamir Ali, who implicated Kashif and others in an operation which allegedly involved sending narcotic tablets to the USA..Kashif later moved for bail. He contended that there were procedural violations in how the authorities sampled and handled the seized contraband. He claimed that there were delays in filing applications for sample collection and that the proper sampling procedures mentioned in Section 52A of the NDPS Act were not followed. The NCB denied these allegations, adding that they could, in any case, be addressed during trial. The High Court granted Kashaf bail after highlighting the importance of strict compliance with the NDPS Act and related standing orders meant to prevent tampering with evidence.It reasoned that there was no direct evidence against Kashaf and that there were procedural violations under Section 52A in the handling of the case.Aggrieved, the NCB preferred an appeal before the apex court..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the NCB. Advocate Akshay Bhandari appeared for Kashif..[Read Judgment].[Live Coverage]