P&H HC: NDPS search memo in English valid; no independent witness needed absent enmity

The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the conviction of a Liberian national under Section 21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, for possessing 400 grams of heroin recovered near a public park in Khanna, Punjab, in 2019. He had been sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh by the Special Court, Ludhiana. On appeal, he argued that the search violated Section 50 of the NDPS Act because the consent and non-consent memos recording his choice to be searched before a gazetted officer were written in English, a language he said he did not understand, while other case documents were in Punjabi; that a change of investigating officer mid-case vitiated the probe; that delay in sending the seized sample to the forensic laboratory raised doubts of tampering; and that no independent witness was associated with the search.

Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi rejected each argument. The two Section 50 memos were in English and bore the appellant's own signature, so the language point did not survive; the primary search and recovery were carried out by officers who were indisputably competent, so a later officer's limited role did not vitiate the trial absent shown prejudice; mere delay in dispatching the sample, without evidence of tampering, was not fatal; and non-joining of an independent witness does not taint a search absent proven enmity with the police, since there is no presumption that official witnesses are untruthful. The appeal was dismissed.