State of Himachal Pradesh v. Surat Singh
Supreme Court of IndiaEL-SC-2026-03-043Bench: Pankaj Mithal; Prasanna B. Varale
The Supreme Court (March 16) upheld the acquittal in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, after noting that the accused, who was allegedly found in possession of 'Charas', was also given a legally impermissible option to be searched in presence of the police officer, which the court held to be contrary to Section 50 of the NDPS Act, as the personal search of an accused can be conducted either in presence of a magistrate or gazette officer.