Jodhpur: <\/strong>The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed the bail plea of 19-year-old Nand Kishore in a Mephedrone case, holding that the police had prima facie complied with Section 42 of the NDPS Act before conducting the night search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu passed the order in an FIR registered at Pratap Nagar Police Station, Jodhpur, under Sections 8\/21 of the NDPS Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court found that the secret information and reasons for proceeding without a warrant were recorded before the search and forwarded to the superior officer within the prescribed period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the prosecution, the SHO received secret information at around 8:30 PM on December 14, 2024, while on patrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The information was that Bajrang and Nand Kishore were sitting in a rented house belonging to Saiyad Mustak and that immediate action was required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The SHO recorded the information and reasons for not obtaining a warrant, citing the possibility of the contraband being concealed or removed. The information was forwarded to the superior officer and received at around 11 PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The police party reached the house at around 10 PM and found both accused present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After serving notices under Section 50 of the NDPS Act, police recovered 157.25 grams of Mephedrone from Bajrang and 180 grams from Nand Kishore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both were arrested from the spot and the seizure memo was prepared at around 12:05 AM on December 15, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nand Kishore argued that the night search was subject to Section 42 safeguards and that the police had sufficient time to obtain a warrant after receiving the information at 8:30 PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His counsel also questioned whether the information had been properly communicated to the superior officer and relied on Arjun v. State of Rajasthan, where bail was granted after finding total non-compliance with Section 42.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Public Prosecutor submitted that the information and reasons for taking emergent action were duly recorded and sent through Constable Bagda Ram to the superior officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The State also pointed out that 180 grams of Mephedrone was above the commercial quantity, attracting the restrictions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Karnail Singh v. State of Haryana, the High Court noted that \u201ctotal non-compliance\u201d with Section 42 is impermissible, though delayed compliance may be accepted in an emergent situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the present case, the Court found that the information and grounds for proceeding without a warrant had been recorded before the search and forwarded to the superior officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court therefore held that the night-time search, by itself, did not violate Section 42.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe fact that the search was conducted during night hours, by itself, therefore, does not render the search contrary to Section 42 of the NDPS Act,\u201d the Court observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reasons recorded by the SHO for proceeding without a warrant also appeared prima facie satisfactory at the bail stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court also noted that the alleged recovery of 180 grams of Mephedrone was above the notified commercial quantity, bringing the stringent conditions under Section 37 of the NDPS Act into operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the bail stage, the Court found that it could not record reasonable grounds for believing that the petitioner was not guilty of the alleged offence, as required under Section 37.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Court also distinguished the petitioner\u2019s reliance on Arjun v. State of Rajasthan, observing that the earlier case involved total non-compliance with Section 42, whereas in the present matter the police had recorded the information, documented the grounds for urgent action and communicated the same to the superior officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finding no grounds to grant bail, the Court dismissed Nand Kishore\u2019s bail application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Court Says Night Search Was Not Illegal, Holds Police Recorded Reasons for Acting Without Warrant Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed the bail plea of 19-year-old Nand Kishore in a Mephedrone case, holding that the police had prima facie complied with Section 42 of the NDPS Act before conducting the night search. Justice Baljinder … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wppp_is_locked":false,"_wppp_selected_plans":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,69],"tags":[2847,80,670,1533,972,1659,2854,48,2844,2842,2853,89,2850,2846,2851,659,43,150,2852,2848],"class_list":["post-9636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","category-rajasthan-high-court","tag-arjun-v-state-of-rajasthan","tag-bail-plea","tag-bail-rejected","tag-commercial-quantity","tag-jodhpur","tag-justice-baljinder-singh-sandhu","tag-karnail-singh-case","tag-legal-news","tag-mephedrone","tag-mephedrone-case","tag-nand-kishore","tag-natural-justice","tag-night-search","tag-night-time-search","tag-pratap-nagar-police-station","tag-rajasthan-hc","tag-rajasthan-high-court","tag-rajasthan-legal-news","tag-search-and-seizure","tag-secret-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9637,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9636\/revisions\/9637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawsandlegals.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Secret Information Recorded Before Night Search<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mephedrone Recovered During Night Search<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Petitioner Challenges the Search<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
State Defends the Search<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Court Finds Section 42 Compliance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
180-Gm Recovery Triggers Section 37 Bar on Bail<\/h4>\n\n\n\n