 bill no  225 of  2016 the  narcotic  drugs  and  psychotropic  substances (amendment)  bill,  2016 byshri dushyant chautala, mp a billfurther to amend the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1 (1) this act may be called the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances(amendment) act, 2016(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint5amendment of section 4261 of 19852 in section 42 of the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985,  after sub-section (2), the following sub-sections shall be added, namely:—"(3) the officer empowered to enter, search, seize and arrest under sub-section(1) shall—10(a) record the post-entry search, seizure and arrest by audio-videoelectronic means:provided that the recording device shall not be switched off till the completion of search, seizure and arrest; and5(b) inform the accused or the person being arrested or the person present in any such building or place about audio-video recording of such search, seizure and arrest(4) the officer empowered to enter, search, seize and arrest under sub-section (1) shall handover the audio-video recording under sub-section (3) to his superior officer who shall keep such recording in his custody for evidentiary purpose" statement of objects and reasonsthe issue of illegal use of drugs is soaring in india with passage of time, the problem has been a major setback in evolution of india as a developed economy use of illicit drugs in india has increased with more than three million drug addicts across the country cannabis, heroin, opium, methamphetamine and hashish are the most commonly used drugs in the country drug addiction not only causes a major discomfiture, both physically and mentally, upon the persons consuming but also creates great inconvenience to the family members of such personsthe narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985 commonly referred to as ndps act, 1985 came into force on 14 november, 1985 and since then is being used by the law keeping agencies to keep a close surveillance on production, manufacture cultivation, sale, purchase, transportation, storage, possession and consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substancessection 42 of the act empowers certain officers to enter in any building or place and search and seize or arrest the offender even without warrant or authorization, if he has reasons to believe that an offence in respect of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance has been committedthe process of searching is the most pivotal step in the procedure as it provides the base for setting the case the task needs to be done in the most patient way and by the most trusted officials as in many cases innocent people are penalized without any reasonable causeaccording to the latest reports, in many cases of search and seizure, the police officers mostly pick up the innocent people who do not have the capacity to pay bribes so as to complete their monthly targets in order to enhance the transparency in the procedure, the officers should be provided with a camera and a voice recorder this will not only help in better administration and investigation but will also help the law to identify the accused and punish them accordingly as per the statistics, around 64,737 drug trafficking cases have been reported in the past four years, out of which many are false and frivolous the investigation procedure taken up by the officers is not appropriate and needs to be more resolute the suggested amendment will augment the investigation and also aggrandize faith of people in law and justicehence this bill financial memorandumclause 2 of the bill provides that the officer empowered shall make audio-video recording of the post-entry search, seizure and arrest procedure the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees five crore per annum will be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees fifty crore will also be involved annexure extract from the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985 (61 of 1985)    42 (1) any such officer (being an officer superior in rank to a peon, sepoy or constable)of the departments of central excise, narcotics, customs, revenue intelligence or any other department of the central government including para-military forces or armed forces as is empowered in this behalf by general or special order by the central government, or any such officer (being an officer superior in rank to a peon, sepoy or constable) of the revenue, drugs control, excise, police or any other department of a state government as is empowered in this behalf by general or special order of the state government, if he has reason to believe from persons knowledge or information given by any person and taken down in writing that any narcotic drug, or psychotropic substance, or controlled substance in respect of which an offence punishable under this act has been committed or any document or other article which may furnish evidence of the commission of such offence or any illegally acquired property or any document or other article which may furnish evidence of holding any illegally acquired property which is liable for seizure or freezing or forfeiture under chapter v a of this act is kept or concealed in any building, conveyance or enclosed place, may between sunrise and sunset,(a) enter into and search any such building, conveyance or place; (b) in case of resistance, break open any door and remove any obstacle to such entry; (c) seize such drug or substance and all materials used in the manufacture thereof and any other article and any animal or conveyance which he has reason to believe to be liable to confiscation under this act and any document or other article which he has reason to believe may furnish evidence of the commission of any offence punishable under this act or furnish evidence of holding any illegally acquired property which is liable for seizure or freezing or forfeiture under chapter v a of this act; and(d) detain and search, and, if he thinks proper, arrest any person whom he has reason to believe to have committed any offence punishable under this act:provided that if such officer has reason to believe that a search warrant or authorization cannot be obtained without affording opportunity for the concealment of evidence or facility for the escape of an offender, he may enter and search such building, conveyance or enclosed place at any time between sunset and sunrise after recording the grounds of his belief(2) where an officer takes down any information in writing under subsection (1) or records grounds for his belief under the proviso thereto, he shall within seventy-two hours send a copy thereof to his immediate official superior     ————a billfurther to amend the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act, 1985————(shri dushyant chautala, mp)gmgipmrnd—2637ls(s3)—30-09-2016