Forces against country have unleashed war of drugs to balkanise India: Uttarakhand High Court

Hostile forces with the intent to harming the country have launched a drug war as part of their ultimate goal to balkanise India, the Uttarakhand High Court recently said..Single-judge Justice Vivek Bharti Sharma observed that cartel of drug traffickers have active international network and support of disruptive forces."It is trite that India is facing one of its big challenges in the form of illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The cartels of traffickers have active international network and involvement of disruptive forces with active support. It is a matter of common knowledge that the fissiparous forces inimical to the country have unleashed the war of drugs to achieve their ultimate unholy goal to balkanise India," the Court said. .The Court further noted that the Narcotics Control Bureau of India mentions on its website that drug traffickers are increasingly leveraging technological innovations to challenge drug law enforcement agencies worldwide and the same includes using the darknet to sell drugs and deploying drones to transport drugs across borders.However, the Court opined that investigations into offences punishable under the NDPS Act are being conducted in an unprofessional and faulty manner."In majority of time such faulty and unprofessional investigations lead to the acquittal of accused persons in serious offences. This situation is not only unfortunate but dangerous also because acquittal from charge of such serious offences not only emboldens the acquitted persons but the deterrence element of punitive provisions also loses its force," the Court observed.To prevent such unfortunate situations, it is essential that personnel from the investigative wing of the police undergo refresher courses and training from experts and officers, the Court added..The Court made these observations while hearing a bail plea by a man who had been convicted by the trial court for committing offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) and sentenced to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment.The counsel for the aconvict submitted that there are significant inconsistencies in the statements of the witnesses examined before the trial court and important evidence was not presented during the trial. Additionally, there was lack of compliance with the mandatory statutory provisions of the NDPS Act during the investigation and no evidence of such compliance was produced or proved before the trial court, the counsel asserted..In response, the counsel for the State strongly opposed the bail application, arguing that serious allegations against the appellant were made.However, he conceded that crucial witnesses - two police constables - were not included in the list of witnesses and there was no application from the Investigating Officer or prosecution to summon these witnesses.On, the Court observed,"the Investigating Officer had failed in discharge of his duties as an Investigating Officer and so the Government Counsel, who had concluded the evidence of the prosecution and advanced the arguments, by not making an application under Section 311 CrP.C.(as the then Criminal Procedure Code) to summon these two witnesses. Court would not hesitate to say that even Trial Court also failed to summon these two witnesses."Taking into consideration the facts of the present case and without getting into merit of the case, the Court granted bail to the appellant."Let the appellant/convict be released on bail, during the pendency of present criminal appeal, on furnishing bail bond with two sureties in the amount of 250,000/- and personal bond of the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court," the Court ordered..The Court emphasized that investigations in all criminal matters, particularly drug cases, should be conducted with the utmost care, caution, and diligence, ensuring compliance with all mandatory statutory provisions.The Court also directed that a copy of the order be sent to all courts in the State for compliance. Additionally, the order should be forwarded to the Director of the Uttarakhand Judicial and Legal Academy in Bhowali, Nainital, to ensure that these observations and directions are incorporated into the refresher courses and induction training for judges. The single-judge also instructed that the district judges of all districts discuss these observations and directions in their monthly meetings.."This is not a part of musings or wishful thinking of this Court, but need of the hour. With hope that the above observation would permeate the administrative conscious of the persons at the helm of the affairs, a copy of this order be also sent to the Director General of Police, Uttarakhand to take appropriate action to preclude the dereliction of duty and negligence in investigation with further direction that all the officers, who can be entrusted with the investigation of the offences under the N.D.P.S. Act, be imparted training for two days with the co-ordination of Narcotic Control Bureau, Dehradun and the Uttarakhand Judicial and Legal Academy, Bhowali, Nainital," the Court observed.The matter will be heard again on December 17.Advocate Aditya Pratap Singh appeared for the appellant.AGA Pankaj Joshi appeared for the State..[Read Order]