This article has been written by Zigishu Singh, pursuing a Certificate Course in Advanced Criminal Litigation & Trial Advocacy from LawSikho.

Introduction

The word ‘Raid’ is associated with the Police and other investigation agencies. According to the dictionary, the word ‘Raid’ means a “sudden assault or attack upon something to be seized or suppressed”, this is usually true with respect to how raids are conducted by various agencies. However, in different statutes that provide power to the various investigative agencies the word ‘Raid’ is generally not found, it is the news headlines that highlight raiding activities conducted by the police or other investigation agencies. One principal question that arises with respect to a Raid conducted by the Police or other Investigation Agencies is whether they come under the purview of Investigation or not. For this article, we will limit the study of law related to Raids with respect to Police forces, the powers of specialized investigation agencies to conduct raids is a discussion for another day.

The concept of Raid

A police force is given the power to search a house, office, shop, building or any other premises for the purpose of gathering evidence, curbing unlawful activities, finding hidden documents or other things used in the process of investigation. The word Raid is used in common parlance by the public because the process of a raid involves an uniformed surprise visit by officers, entering the premises without permission and searching the premises belonging to for evidence. Hence, any raid conducted by the police entails a negative perception about the person whose premises is raided.

In legal terminology the word ‘Raid’ is not used, the wording of the provisions which give Police the power to conduct a raid usually begin as ‘Power to Search’ and/or ‘Power to Seize’. An accused person in a criminal case is unlikely to provide evidence which is incriminating and the  police are given such powers primarily for the purpose of gathering evidence that is hidden or kept in places such as offices, warehouses, shops etc. Evidence like documents, receipts, products, weapons etc. are often necessary to prove conviction in criminal cases. Even though coercive searching procedures like raids are an encroachment on the personal rights of the occupant of a place, such encroachments become necessary and need to be tolerated in the larger interests of the society.

Provisions related to search and seizure

Most of the powers which a police force enjoys is derived from the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is a pan-India statute which gives uniformity regarding the law related to arrest, trial, investigation process and other important procedures. The code also bestows the police with the power to conduct searches for the purpose of gathering evidence which are crucial in proving the occurrence of a crime in a trial before the court. The Code of Criminal Procedure provides extensive details regarding the protocol to be followed in the process of search, the safeguards to prevent illegal search and the oversight of the Magistrates in search procedures.

Apart from the Code of Criminal Procedure, many states have enacted state specific police legislations giving additional powers of search and seizure to the police for various purposes, furthermore, specialized legislations that deal with Socio-economic offences have built in provisions for search and seizure which give additional powers to officers of police to carry out searches with respect to the offences dealt under those acts.

Provisions related to search under the Code of Criminal Procedure

The Code of Criminal Procedure empowers the police to carry out searches for a number of purposes. Some of those procedures require the authorization of the Courts and some of them can be done by the police on their own motion. Let us discuss some of these provisions:

1. Section 93 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: This provision empowers a court to issue Search Warrant for the search of any place either generally or specified things or documents. There are two cases in which a court can issue search warrant for specific documents or things namely:
   • When the court believes that a summons issued under Section 91 or a requisition issued under Section 92(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to a person to produce a specific document will not be produced, or
   • When the court does not have knowledge of the person who possesses the documents mentioned in Section 91 and 92.
2. The court can also issue search warrants for a general search under Section 93. It has been held in Paresh Chandra Sen Gupta vs. Jogendra Nath Roy that a general search is not done with respect to specific documents or things necessary for the purpose of investigation, instead it is kind of a roving inquiry for the purpose of discovering documents or things which have the possibility to reveal persons who can be made criminally liable for an offence.
3. Search warrants can also be issued by the courts for the purpose of finding out wrongfully confined persons. Under Section 97 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, certain magistrates can issue search warrants for the purpose of rescue of wrongfully confined persons. This provision also allows police to raid any premises for the search of a person albeit with the authorization of a magistrate.
4. Searching the premises of any place is considered an encroachment of the liberty of a person, due to this reason search warrants are issued only after a court or magistrate is convinced about the necessity for conducting a search. However, in certain cases the urgency of the matter requires the police to search a place immediately or the delay in obtaining the authorization of the magistrate is not favorable for the purpose of investigation. Section 165 and Section 166 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empower certain police officers to search or cause a search to be made without the permission of a magistrate in a place where there is a reasonable possibility of finding material necessary for the purpose of investigation. This provides the police the necessary power of search in cases of urgency.
5. Lastly, Section 153 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides the Police the power to search any place for the purpose of inspecting weights, measures and other instruments for weighing which are suspected to be false. The power of search granted by this provision can be exercised without the authorization of the magistrate.

Power of search and seizure provided through other laws

Apart from the Code of Criminal Procedure the Police Acts of various states empower the state police to enter any place and search the premises. For example:

1. Section 61 of the Delhi Police Act empowers every police officer to inspect any place which is suspected of being used as a place for storing, sale, consumption of intoxicating or narcotic substances, or if the place is being inhabited by persons of loose or disorderly character. 
2. Similar powers are provided by various state legislations which provide the law regarding the working of the police, for instance Section 65 the Bombay Police Act and Section 66 of the Karnataka Police Act provide their respective state police forces powers on the lines of Section 61 of the Delhi Police Act.
3. Section 81 of the Karnataka Police Act provides the police the power to inspect and search gaming houses and to seize all articles, money and other instruments used for gaming prohibited by the law.

Whether raids conducted by police come under the purview of investigation

So far, we have learnt that what people call ‘Police Raid’ actually is a process of search of a place and seizure of evidence, as provided under the Code of Criminal Procedure. So, the key question is whether the process of search and seizure comes under the purview of investigation. This question is answered through the language of the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. But first we need to understand what does Investigation exactly mean. 

• Section 2(h) of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides the definition of what is meant by ‘Investigation’ under the Code of Criminal Procedure. It broadly defines investigation as all the proceedings under the Code of Criminal Procedure that are conducted by the police or any other person authorized by the magistrate for the purpose of collection of evidence.

This definition is not inclusionary and can be expected to cover proceedings conducted outside the purview of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Supreme Court has further expanded the definition of Investigation in H.N. Rishbud vs. State of Delhi, wherein it said that investigation generally includes the following steps:

1. Proceeding to the spot;
2. Ascertainment of facts and circumstances of the case;
3. Discovery and arrest of the suspected offender;
4. Collection of evidence relating to the commission of offence which may consist of:
   • Examination of witnesses including the accused.
   • The search of places and seizure of things considered necessary for investigation.
5. Formation of opinion on the basis of evidence gathered and filing of chargesheet.

From the above-mentioned points and the definition of Investigation, it can be said that the process of search and seizure, which is also known as a police raid, comes under the purview of investigation. According to the language of Sections 93 read with Section 91 and 92, Section 165 and Section 166 a search of a place is made for the purpose of investigation only, furthermore the process of collection of evidence through search of a place is an integral part of investigation which puts the concept of Police Raid under the ambit of process of investigation.

However, there are other provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure as well as in other legislations which give police the power to inspect places where illegal activities are suspected to be taking place. We discussed some State Police Legislations that empower the police to conduct inspections and also seize any evidence in the form of documents, articles or other things, these actions are general powers of police and do not require search warrants or the authorization of a judicial authority. Searches under these provisions are also considered as raids by courts and the public alike, however whether these searches can be considered as part of investigation depends on the facts and circumstances of each case.

Some search procedures are not explicitly done for the purpose of investigation, they have been included in different statutes because prevention of some crimes require routine general inspection and for that it is not necessary that the Police need some information or reasonable suspicion to conduct searches. Filing of FIR or obtaining search warrants become secondary matters in such cases where the prime objective is to bust illegal activities. A raid of such nature can come under the purview of Investigation if it involves the steps which are explained by the Supreme Court in the H.N. Rishbud case(supra).

Conclusion

We learnt about what exactly a raid is, in essence it is a legal procedure for obtaining evidence against offences. It has the sanction of the law and is not a flimsy procedure used by the police. Though raids have a negative perception in the news as they infringe on the Rights of the Occupant and are also used as an arm-twisting tactic by the police and politicians, legally speaking raid is an important tool utilized by the police for the purpose of gathering important evidence for proving commission of a crime and it does come under the purview of investigation.

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