Whether Statement Recorded U/S 67 Of NDPS Act Is A ‘Confessional Statement’ Or Not? Many Cases Awaiting Outcome Of Reference Made In 2013, DB Asks Registry To Place It Before CJI [Read Order]

A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi has asked the Registry to bring it to the notice of Chief Justice of India that reference made in Tofan Singh vs. State of Tamil Nadu is still pending.The bench observed that a large number of cases in the apex court and various high courts in the country are awaiting the outcome in that case to know determination of the three-judge bench. The bench observed that a large number of cases in the apex court and various high courts in the country are awaiting the outcome in that case to know determination of the three-judge bench in the issue whether a statement recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act can in law be a confessional statement or not. The bench observed: “Whether a statement recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act can in law be a confessional statement or not is an issue that has been 2 referred to a larger Bench of this Court by order dated 08.10.2013 in Criminal Appeal No.152 of 2013 ‘Tofan Singh vs. State of Tamil Nadu’ reported in 16 SCC 31. Tofan Singh has been pending since October, 2013 and we are told that a large number of cases in this Court as well as in various High Courts in the country are awaiting the outcome in Tofan Singh, we direct the Registry to place this order before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders for hearing of the issues referred in Tofan Singh.” Tofan Singh vs. State of Tamil Nadu A division bench of Justice AK Patnaik and Justice AK Sikri, in 2013, had referred these issues to the larger bench.