Conditions under which search of persons shall be conducted

(1) When any officer duly authorized under Section 21 is about to search any person under the provisions of Section 20, Section 21 or Section 22, he shall, if possible, take such person to the nearest gazetted officer of any of the departments mentioned in Section 21 or to the nearest Magistrate. (2) When an officer duly authorized under Section 19 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 controlled substance or article or document, 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. (3) After a search is conducted under sub-section (2), 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. (3) No female shall be searched by anyone except female.