Mumbai cruise drugs case: Court observes illegal seizure, breach of arrest procedure by NCB

The court ruled on Sunday that the NCB made an illegal seizure and violated the arrest procedure in the Mumbai cruise drugs case.

A judge of a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court, hearing the bail plea of one of the accused in the Mumbai cruise ship drugs case, has observed that the search was carried out by a female panch rather than an empowered officer to effect search and seizure, resulting in a violation of Section 42 of the act and the accused's right to bail.

Section 42 of the NDPS elaborates on the power of sleuths to enter, search, seize, and arrest without a warrant or authorization. While Special Judge VV Patil ruled that the search and seizure were effective against accused Nupur Satija, a co-accused in the drug case in which Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is also a defendant, the court granted her bail.