Practice area
Section 67 notices, summons and statements
Advice for persons summoned by NDPS officers under Section 67, and on the legal status of statements recorded during investigation.
Section 67 of the NDPS Act lets authorised officers call for information and examine persons during an enquiry. Receiving a summons or notice is often the first sign of an investigation, and what is said or signed at this stage can matter for years.
What this work involves
- Reviewing the notice or summons and the stated basis for it
- Advising on rights before and during questioning
- Examining the statements already recorded, and any retraction
- Considering protective steps, including petitions before the High Court of Karnataka in suitable cases
- Preparing for the later use of statements in bail and trial
The Supreme Court on statements
In Tofan Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu (2020), a Constitution Bench held that officers empowered under the NDPS Act are police officers within the meaning of Section 25 of the Evidence Act, so a confessional statement recorded under Section 67 is not admissible as a confession in the trial of an NDPS offence.
Read more: Statements under Section 67 and their admissibility.
Related reading
Section 37 of the NDPS Act: why bail is harder in commercial-quantity cases
How the twin conditions of Section 37 NDPS work, which cases they cover, and what that means for a bail application.
Search and seizureSection 50 of the NDPS Act: the right to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate
What Section 50 of the NDPS Act requires before a personal search, and how courts have treated non-compliance.
Statements and noticesStatements under Section 67 of the NDPS Act: are they admissible?
What Section 67 of the NDPS Act allows, and what the Supreme Court held in Tofan Singh about statements recorded by NDPS officers.