Narcotics trial not vitiated if complainant is himself investigator

NEW DELHI, Aug 31: In many Narcotics cases, the officer registering the complaint is also the investigating officer, but "it cannot be said that the investigation is biased and the trial is vitiated," a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held on Monday.
On an acquittal given by the Apex Court to one Mukesh Singh under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, on the ground that the investigating officer and the complainant was the same will apply to the facts of those cases only and it cannot be applied as a general rule, said Justice M R Shah who pronounced the judgment on behalf of the Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, with other judges being Justice Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat.
The bench was hearing on a question of law referred by a three-judge bench on whether trial of cases under NDPS Act will be vitiated if the informant and the investigating officer is the same person. A two-judge bench in the instant case of Mukesh Singh had observed: “Where the complainant himself had conducted investigation, such aspect of the matter can certainly be given due weightage while assessing the evidence on record, but it would be completely different thing to say that the trial itself would be vitiated for such infraction.”