Officers Designated U/s 53 NDPS Act Can Exercise All Investigative Powers Under CrPC Including Power to File Charge-Sheet: SC

The Supreme Court has observed that all the investigative powers vested in an officer in charge of a police station under the CrPC, including the power to file a charge-sheet, are vested in the officers designated under section 53 of the NDPS Act when dealing with an offence under the NDPS Act. The court (2:1), while answering the reference in Tofan Singh vs. State of Tamil Nadu, overruled the contrary view expressed in Raj Kumar Karwal v. Union of India (1990) 2 SCC 409, in this regard.