In Brief
The Supreme Court decided that officers designated under Section 53 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act qualify as 'police officers' within the meaning of Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Consequently, confessional statements made to such officers cannot be relied upon as evidence under Section 25. The Court also held that statements recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, which is merely a power to call for information during preliminary enquiry, cannot be used as substantive confessional evidence. Section 53A limits the relevance of such statements to specific exceptional circumstances, with corroboration required. The overruling of prior judgments (Raj Kumar Karwal and Kanhaiyalal) reflects the Court's view that the NDPS Act, being a penal statute dealing with serious crimes, must provide constitutional safeguards comparable to those in the CrPC.
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