Statement Under Section 67 of NDPS Act Cannot Be Used As A Confessional Statement, Reiterates Punjab & Haryana HC

The High Court of Punjab & Haryana has held that a statement under Section 67 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 cannot be used as a confessional statement in the trial of an offense under the Act. However, a bench of Justice Raj Mohan Singh relied on the case of Tofan Singh vs. State of Tamil Nadu (2013), where it was held that the officers who are invested with powers under Section 53 of NDPS Act are the police officers within the meaning of Section 25 of the Evidence Act. Thereby, under Section 25 of the Evidence Act thus, any confessional statement made before the police officer would be hit by the said provision. The petitioner’s case is that he has been implicated based on the disclosure statement of co-accused from whom 248 kgs of poppy husk, 1 Kg 500 grams of opium, and 199 Kgs khas khas were recovered. After that, an FIR was registered based on secret information, but still, the petitioner’s name did not figure in the ruqa of the police.