Underscoring that it was satisfied with the government’s approach in dealing with the drug menace, the High Court Friday directed the authorities concerned to ensure setting up of drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres in Jammu and Kashmir.
Reiterating that the directions passed by it from time-to-time be implemented by the government, a division bench of Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul directed the concerned authorities to ensure establishment of drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres and accelerate awareness of the effects of the drug menace amongst the general public.
The court closed the PIL after hearing Senior Additional Advocate General (AAG) B A Dar and AAG Shah Aamir on behalf of the J&K government and Assistant Solicitor General of India (ASGI) T M Shamsi.
The court observed that the directions it had passed already had yielded results as the government was on record by not only assuring establishment of drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres but also in evolving the mechanism for general awareness of the public in general and the youngsters in particular.
The PIL had sought direction for seeking a comprehensive drug de-addiction policy for the state.
The PIL said that in J&K, particularly in Kashmir, the WHO guidelines, national mental health programmes and policies were completely ignored.
“Drug addiction treatment and control facilities are universally considered as one of the most important components of overall mental healthcare services. This is the reason that comprehensive drug-dependent treatment and rehabilitative services stand established all over the world and in different states across the country,” it pleaded.