Karnataka High Court directs State to act against police officers who falsely implicated students in drug case

The Karnataka High Court recently directed the State government to conduct a departmental inquiry against three officers of Bengaluru police after it realised that the officers had falsely implicated two students in a case of possession of psychotropic drugs and filed a chargesheet against them..In an order passed on September 10, Justice M Nagaprasanna directed the State to submit an action taken report against the three officers within 12 weeks..“The Station House Officer who was summoned admits that there was a mistake. For the mistake committed by the Station House Officer or the Investigating Officer who have deliberately and wantonly filed the charge sheet against these petitioners, the careers of the petitioners are put to jeopardy. They have suffered ignominy for 5 years in a case concerning narcotics. It is averred in the petition that they have lost several job opportunities on the score that these proceedings are pending for the last 5 years,” the High Court said..The Court also said that it had come across several cases where the police had been violating Sections 50 and 52 A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) that pertain to the conditions under which searches can be conducted on persons.Justice Nagaprasanna accordingly directed that the Director General of Police or the Inspector General of the Karnataka Police or the State Home Department must issue a circular notifying all empowered officers to mandatorily follow the guidelines under Sections 50 and 52A of the Act..The Court was hearing a petition filed by the two students in 2019 seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against them by the Varthur police. The police had alleged that the two had been smoking ganja by mixing it with cigarette powder in a smoking pipe.However, the petitioners denied the allegation. They also pointed out that when their blood samples checked by the FSL, it did not show any trace of psychotropic substance. While the police and the State claimed before the Court that 15 grams of Ganja had been seized when the two had been searched, the Court noted there was noting on record to show that the police had indeed seized anything from the two accused students. It also noted that the forensic report did not show the presence of any contraband substance in the blood samples of the two accused..“In the case at hand, as observed, the learned Additional State Public Prosecutor projects a bleak contention of 15 grams of ganja being seized from the body of the petitioners. Where is the sample is a mystery,” the High Court said.The Court went on to observe that it was apparent that the present case was a fabricated one. It further said that the policemen must not be let off the hook and accordingly directed the State to initiate the departmental inquiry against the officers concerned..“The maliciousness is apparent on the face of the record. The report of FSL in unequivocal terms indicates that blood samples did not contain any contraband substance or even its derivatives, but the police filed the chargesheet recording that FSL report has confirmed the presence of a contraband substance,” the High Court said..Advocate Shashi Kiran V appeared for the petitioner students.Additional Special Public Prosecutor Jagadeesha BN appeared for the State government and the Karnataka police.