Ahmadi J. - (1.) Are the officers of the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) who have been invested with the powers of an officer-in-charge of a police station under S. 53 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (hereinafter called 'the Act'), "police officers" within the meaning of S. 25 of the Evidence Act If yes, is a confessional statement recorded by such officer in the course of investigation of a person accused of an offence under the said Act, admissible in evidence as against him These are the questions which we are called upon to answer in. these appeals by special leave.
(2.) These are the facts, briefly stated. A motor truck DEL 3124 was intercepted on July 12, 1986 near Calcutta by the DRI officials. On search a large quantity of hashish weighing about 743 kgs found concealed in machines loaded in the said truck was recovered. The machinery was meant to be exported to Saudi-Arabia and the United Kingdom by M/s. Northern Exports (Importers, Exporters and Commission Agents) and M/s. Modern Machinery and Instruments, both of New Delhi. After the hashish was found hidden in the machines loaded in the said vehicle, the same was attached under a seizure memo. Joginder Singh and Shivraj Singh, the drivers of the vehicle, were apprehended on the spot by the DRI officials.
(3.) The disclosure made by these two drivers led to the search of a Farm House at Khasra No. 417, Gadaipur, Mehrauli, New Delhi on the 13th/ 14th and 15th of July, 1986. In the course of the said search hashish weighing about 976 Kgs. was recovered from the machines lying in the said premises and a further quantity of 365 Kgs. was recovered from gunny bags which were secreted underground in the out-house of the Farm House. The DRI officials learnt in the course of investigation that the said hashish was to be exported through M/s. Lee Muirhead (I) Ltd., and M/s Shiekh . and Pandit, of Calcutta. Mohan Lal Pandit and Tushar Pandit, the partners of the said two firms, respectively, were arrested. One Subhash Narang who was arrested by the DRI officials implicated the appellant Kirpal Mohan Virmani. In the course of investigation the name of the other appellant Raj Kumar Karwal also surfaced. Both these persons made confessional statements to the DRI officials in the course of investigation.;