(1) When any officer duly authorised under section 42 is about to search any person under the provisions of section 41, section 42 or section 43, he shall, if such person so requires, take such person without unnecessary delay to the nearest Gazetted Officer of any of the departments mentioned in section 42 or to the nearest Magistrate.
(2) If such requisition is made, the officer may detain the person until he can bring him before the Gazetted Officer or the Magistrate referred to in sub-section (1).
(3) The Gazetted Officer or the Magistrate before whom any such person is brought shall, if he sees no reasonable ground for search, forthwith discharge the person but otherwise shall direct that search be made.
(4) No female shall be searched by anyone excepting a female.
(5) When an officer duly authorised under section 42 has reason to believe that it is not possible to take the person to be searched to the nearest Gazetted Officer or Magistrate without the possibility of the person to be searched parting with possession of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, or controlled substance or any document or article, he may, instead of taking such person to the nearest Gazetted Officer or Magistrate, proceed to search the person as provided under section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
(6) After a search is conducted under sub-section (5), the officer shall record the reasons for such belief which necessitated such search and within seventy-two hours send a copy thereof to his immediate official superior.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 50
Section 50 sets forth the mandatory constitutional and statutory conditions governing the personal search of any person suspected of carrying illicit drugs.
Section 50 provides a mandatory constitutional safeguard, entitling suspects to be informed of their right to be searched before a Gazetted Officer or Magistrate.
Section 50 is the most sacrosanct procedural safeguard in Indian narcotics jurisprudence. Personal liberty requires that personal searches be above suspicion. If the officer fails to serve a written Section 50 notice informing the suspect of their right to be taken before a Magistrate or Gazetted Officer, any recovery from the suspect's pockets or clothes is legally fatal.