Are cops burning cow dung instead of seized drugs?

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, August 31, 2015: In a scathing criticism of law enforcement agencies, the Supreme Court has said what is burnt by them in the garb of destruction of seized drugs could be nothing but "cow dung". The court has said illicit drugs worth crores seized every year could be re-entering the market, surreptitiously sold by lower-level staff in the agencies.

Pulling up the states and the Centre for not having any clear-cut policy for storage and disposal of seized drugs like hashish and ganja, the apex court said because of loopholes in the system people within the Narcotic Control Bureau or the police are re-routing them to make profit.

Raising serious questions on the manner in which seized contraband is destroyed, a bench headed by Justices T. S. Thakur and N. V. Ramana told Solicitor General (SG) Ranjit Kumar:  "We must say that there is no proper system or clarity. Narcotics bureau boasts ’we have seized Rs 30 crores worth of drugs, Rs 50 crores worth of drugs.’ Where do these go? Only a small amount is taken to court as sample to lab and court as evidence of the material seized. What is happening to the rest of them? Are you sure what you destroy or burn eventually is what was seized… or is it cow dung? It is very much possible."


Justice Thakur said: "Very junior level staff like a havildar, peon or constable handles the seized contraband. Since they know that only a small portion is required as evidence they may easily take away the rest and sell it off. There have been cases. There cannot be anything worse than society suffering on account of the greed or negligence of those who are entrusted with the duty of protecting it... There aren’t strong lockers too to store these contrabands. The police malkhana (where material evidence in various criminal cases is stored) also has broken doors and locks. How do we ensure that the contraband remains inside the malkhana?" asked Justice Thakur.

The directives came after amicus curiae (senior lawyer appointed by court to assist on an issue) Ajit Kumar Sinha informed the court that although the authorities seized drugs worth several hundred crores each year, the disposal and destruction was "only 5 to 10 percent".

The bench was dealing with a 2012 appeal by the Centre against the acquittal of some suspected drug peddlers by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The court had widened the ambit of the petition by converting it into public interest litigation (PIL) to deal with the issue of disposal and destruction of seized illicit drugs across the country.

Justice Thakur said there were deliberations on the shortcomings in the drug disposal policy during a conference on ’drug menace in India’ held at Manali in June this year. "There was a Personal Security Officer (PSO) with me at the seminar. He told me that it is very normal in states like Himachal where drug sale is so rampant that police officials arrest one peddler and leave another seven or eight to go scot free after seizing the drugs. They then sell it off in the market themselves. What is more shocking than that?"

The bench asked the Solicitor General to place the policy regarding destruction of seized drugs within a week. The court first wanted the report regarding the national capital. The SG then assured the court that he would hold a meeting with the Narcotics Control Bureau Director General regarding this and submit a report. The court has also sought reports from state chief secretaries on measures taken to implement various laws in this regard in the past 10 years.

The court had earlier directed that the registrar general of the high court of each state function as "nodal officer" to ensure collection of such data. The registrar would in turn submit a report to the apex court.

The top court also found that there were few forensic laboratories to provide quick test reports to the courts in drug-trafficking cases.

"Have the committees been established? In Delhi, in some subjects you have the jurisdiction, in some subjects, the state government has it. Does this come under your jurisdiction?" the bench asked the Solicitor General.

Justice Thakur then told Kumar that since the Centre had law and order control over Delhi, it should place before the court details of whether any "drug disposal committee" had been set up in the capital for disposing/ destroying seized drugs.

THE CASE SO FAR

The stinging remarks came after amicus curiae (senior lawyer appointed by court to assist on an issue) Ajit Kumar Sinha informed the court that though the authorities seized drugs worth several hundred crores each year, the disposal and destruction was only five to 10 per cent.

The bench was dealing with a 2012 appeal by the Centre against the acquittal of some suspected drug peddlers by the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

The court had widened the ambit of the petition by converting it into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to deal with the issue of disposal and destruction of seized illicit drugs across the country.

 

Courtesy: Indiatoday