Is probe in NDPS cases complete without forensic report of substance recovered? Supreme Court to examine

The Supreme Court today issued notice in a plea raising the question as to whether investigation in cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 can be said to be completed in the absence of forensic analysis of the recovered substance (Mohd Arbaz v. Union of India)..The Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli was hearing an appeal against a Delhi High Court order which had rejected bail of accused under the Act..The three accused had contended that they are entitled for statutory bail on account of the inability of the investigation agency to complete the investigation within the statutorily permitted time frame.The accused had first approached the trial court which had rejected the plea due to delay in filing the same. On appeal, the High Court reversed the finding on delay, but held that the accused could not be granted statutory bail since investigation cannot be stated to be incomplete at the relevant time..The petition filed through Advocates Anas Tanwir and Rudro Chatterjee stated that one of the primary questions to be decided in this case is whether in a case that solely depends on the nature and identity of a recovery from the accused, can investigation stated to have been completed even though no evidence whatsoever has been collected to establish the identity, nature, contents etc. of the recovery..Further, the petitioners submitted that the Court has to decide whether there is any limitation on the time allowed for completion of investigation by the police in such cases..The petitioners stated that with regard to completion of investigation in NDPS cases in the absence of a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report of the substance in question, there have been divergent opinions of High Courts and that a final verdict from the top court was needed in the interest of judicial comity..The petitioners were arrested in December 2018 while in alleged possession of 30 kilograms of Heroin. During investigation, the samples of recovered Heroin was sent to FSL, Rohini for opinion. The FSL result is yet to be received.The plea stated that the statutory period of 180 days for detaining the petitioners pending completion of investigation, as per Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) read with Section 36A of the NDPS Act, expired on June 15, 2019. ."Granting more time to the prosecution/IO, even in the absence of any application on their part, whether oral or written, was clearly in teeth of the law laid down by this Hon’ble Court in Sanjay Kumar Kedia vs. Narcotics Control Bureau (2009) 17 SCC 631, wherein it has been held that requirements under the proviso to section 36A(4), NDPS Act, are mandatory and warrant strict compliance," the appeal stated..Recently, the same issue was raised in another appeal filed against a verdict of the Kerala High Court contending that the accused is entitled to statutory bail under Section 167(2) of CrPC when no chemical analysis report is filed along with the final report, within the 180 days period mandated under the NDPS Act.