Ganderbal Court dismisses bail pleas of 5 drug peddlers

Principal Sessions Court Ganderbal has held that drug peddlers and drug addicts need to be distanced from the society, kept under jail quarantine and then reformed in drug de-addiction centers.

Principal Sessions Judge Ganderbal, Muhammad Yousuf Wani, while, dismissing bail pleas of five persons booked by police in Ganderbal district under NDPS Act in alleged drug peddling cases, made these observations.

   

The court observed that the accused persons are alleged to be indulging in narcotic drugs, thereby, dragging the public particularly youth to the menace of drug addiction. “The drug addiction has been eating vitals of the society” the Court said.

Underscoring that the incidents of illegal possession, purchase, use and trafficking of narcotic drugs is on the alarming increase, the court said, “Hardly a day passes when we do not hear about the seizure of the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances from the youth.”

While the court observed that police is expected to investigate the narcotic cases with utmost responsibility on logical, scientific and result oriented lines, it said they should reach to the root of the evil and identify the real culprits behind the crime by ascertaining the source of these drugs.

Urging that the investigations in respect of cases under NDPS Act, need to be fair, honest, logical and result oriented, the court said the probes need to unearth the basic sources where-from the manufactured psychotropic drugs originate for illegal use.

With regard to Ganderbal district, the court said the medical distributors, retailers, pharmacists and all the druggists in the district shall as per the law, rules and regulations sell the drugs containing narcotic/psychotropic substances for medicinal use only on the prescriptions of doctors and registered medical practitioners.

“They shall keep the record of the sale of such drugs and make a mention there-of with quantity and address particulars so that there is no misuse of such type of drugs,” the court added.

The court has cited the judgment of Supreme Court delivered in case titled Hira Singh and Another V/S UOI on 22April 2020 in which the Apex Court has said the problem of drug addiction is a crime against the society and it has to be dealt with iron hands.

While rejecting bail pleas of the accused, the Sessions court in its judgment observed that the law laid down by the Apex Court in case titled E Micheal Raj Vs Intelligence Officer, Narcotic Control Bureau AIR 2008SC 1720, followed by High Court of Punjab & Haryana in Rajvir Singh alias Raju V/S State of Punjab 2018(3) Law Herald 2448  has been finally differed with by a larger bench of Apex Court by deciding the reference in Hira Singh and Another vs UoI on 22 April, 2020.

The Apex court in its ruling has held that in case of mixture containing narcotic and neutral substances the entire mixture was to be taken into consideration while computing the quantity being commercial or otherwise. The validity of note 4 added to the notification of 2001 of NDPS Act was upheld by the Apex court.

The court dismissed the bail applications of Rizwan Ahmad Khan, Ishfaq Ahmad Ganaie, Maqsood Ahmad Ganie , Danish Ahmad Dar , Mohammad Ayoub Parray  against whom Safapora Police station has filed an FIR as accused drug peddlers.

According to police report, Rizwan Khan was apprehended on March 6 and 48 bottles psychotropic substance containing codeine phosphate as a constituent were recovered from his possession, while Ishfaq Ganie was apprehended on April 15 after 30 bottles of codeine were recovered from his possession, Maqsood Ganie was arrested on April 1 after 30 such bottles were recovered from his possession.

Danish Dar was apprehended on February 22 after 5 bottles containing psychotropic drug weighing 2.850 ltrs were seized from his house while Mohammad Parry was arrested on March 29 after 20 bottles of manufactured narcotic drug containing codeine phosphate as a constituent and 210 Spasmo-Proxyvon capsules were recovered from his possession.

In respect of Khan police station concerned has already filed charge sheet while investigation in rest of the cases is underway.

Public Prosecutor Dawood Ahmad Tota resisted the bail on the ground that commercial quantities of psychotropic substances were recovered from the possession of the accused.

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