Statements recorded by officers under the NDPS Act cannot be treated as confessions: SC

Statements recorded by officers under the NDPS Act cannot be treated as confessions: SC

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Judiciary

In news

• The SC has given its ruling on whether statements recorded under Section 67 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act can be admissible as confessional statements during criminal trials.

Key takeaways 

• The majority judgment ruled that statements recorded by officers under the NDPS Act cannot be treated as confessions.
• The majority view held that if confessional statements made under the Act are held as the basis to convict a person, it would be a direct infringement of constitutional guarantees
• The court also held that when a reference is made to “police officers”, it does not only mean a police officer belonging to a state police force but includes officers who may belong to other departments.
• The ruling will impact evidence in several cases, including the alleged drugs case being investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) where actor Rhea Chakraborty and 24 others have been named as accused.