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The bench noted that there were no prior criminal antecedents reported against the applicant, making it unlikely that he will commit any offences in the future
The Bombay High Court has recently granted bail to a man who was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 after the court discovered that, despite the authorized officer being present, an unauthorized officer conducted the search of the accused.
Justice MS Karnik was hearing a bail plea filed by Shafat Mausin Khan, who had been in custody for 1 year and 11 months.
The original complainant, Constable Subhash Ramesh Thorat Bhalerao, was part of a team of officers on patrolling duty near Govandi when they observed two men carrying large paper boxes.
The police found the behaviour of the two individuals to be suspicious, and when they attempted to flee, they were apprehended. A search was conducted, revealing 240 bottles of BDPL Chlorpheniramine Maleate & Codeine Phosphate Syrup (100 ml each) (Phensirest Cough Syrup with Codeine)
Since the two individuals could not produce a license and were found in possession of contraband, an offence was registered against them.
After perusing the panchanama the bench found that on the directions of the empowered officer, an unauthorized police constable named Jadhav conducted both a personal search and a search of the boxes. During the personal search, no items were found, but contraband was discovered within the boxes.
In its order, the bench noted that there was a lack of proper compliance with the provisions regarding the search of the applicant, as the search was not conducted by the empowered officer.
“The panchanama clearly reveals that the personal search was carried out by the Police Constable Mr. Jadhav who was not the empowered officer. The empowered officer was present who instructed the Police Constable to carry out the search of the person of the applicant. There is, thus, no proper compliance of the provisions regarding search of the applicant as the search was not carried out by the empowered officer,” the order reads.
Therefore, the bench granted bail to Khan, while observing that there were prima facie reasonable grounds to believe that Khan was not guilty of the offence.
Furthermore, the bench noted that there were no prior criminal antecedents reported against the applicant, making it unlikely that he will commit any offences in the future.
Case Title: Shafat Mausin Khan vs State of Maharashtra
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