Due to Shushant Singh Rajputs Death mystery, Narcotics Control Bureau is the central point of the media and common people, as we read in the previous article about the examination & recording of the person by NCB, in this article we will focus on hoe NCB arrests person and which precautions they do during custody of arrestee.
Section
37 (a) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic substances act,1985 (NDPS Act) stipulates that every offence punishable
under this Act shall be cognizable. The Drug Law Enforcement Officer (DLEO) should arrest a person after
establishing, prima facie, on the basis of recovery and seizures, statement
made by him and other persons and other evidence documentary or otherwise
available that he has committed an offence punishable under the NDPS Act.
He should prepare a written Arrest Memo stating the grounds of his arrest, date
and time of arrest and inform the arrestee of the grounds of his arrest.
Guidelines:
The DLEO
should comply with the guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court of India
in the case of D.K. Basu Vs State of West Bengal, the highlights of
which are as under:
(i)
Officers interrogating the arrestee must bear
their ID and name tags with designations and the names should be maintained in
a register
(ii)
The officer carrying out the arrest must
prepare a memo at the time of arrest which should be signed by at least one
witness who will either be a family member of the arrestee or a respectable
citizen of the locality. The arrestee has to countersign the memo which must
contain the date and time of his arrest.
(iii)
The arrestee is entitled to have at least one
friend or family member interested in his welfare, informed about his arrest
and the place of his detention
(iv)
If the arrestee belongs to another district
or town, the Legal Aid Organization of that district or the police station of
that locality should be informed about the date, time of arrest and place of
detention telegraphically within 8-12 hrs after the arrest
(v)
The arrestee should be medically examined at
the time of arrest and any major or minor injuries must be recorded in an
‘Inspection Memo’ which must be signed both by the arresting officer and the
arrestee.
A copy of the Inspection Memo is to be
given to the arrestee. Thereafter, the arrestee must be examined every 48
hrs while he is in custody.
Precaution:
A
person, after his arrest, must be produced before a Magistrate without
unnecessary delay but within 24 hrs of his arrest in accordance with
law. The arresting officer who has signed the Arrest Memo is deemed to have his
custody till his production before the Magistrate. Therefore, he is responsible
for the arrestee’s safety and well-being. The arrestee must always be kept in
sight and away from places from where he can try to escape or play mischief.
Arrestee’s
Belongings:
After
the arrest, the DLEO as arresting officer, must thoroughly search the
person of the arrestee, take out all things/articles in his possession, list
out such things in a Jama Talashi Memo under his signature and that of the
arrestee.
If
a close friend or relative is available at the time and place of the arrest,
these things can be given to such person with the consent of the arrestee and
an acknowledgement receipt must be taken from the recipient in the presence of
the arrestee who will also sign thereon to prevent disputes in future.
If
nobody is available to hand over the same, such articles should be carefully
kept in a package, carefully sealed under the signature of the officer and the
arrestee and marked as Jama Talashi goods. These are then deposited in the
Malkhana to be returned to the arrestee on demand later.
If
the DLEO being the arresting officer has to go out on some other
official duty, then he must hand over the arrestee to another officer under
written instructions of a superior officer and a written instrument of handing
over and taking over the arrestee signed by both the officers–both while
handing over and receiving.
Foreign
National:
In
case of arrest of a foreign national, the DLEO is also required to send
the arrest details to the following:
(i)
The Joint Secretary, CPV Division, MEA,
Patiala House, New Delhi
(ii)
Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreigners
Division, No. 26 Man Singh Road, Jaisalmer House, New Delhi.
Related Article -
(source of information - NCB field officers handbook)
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