High Court pulls up Haryana, Punjab for faulty probe in drug cases

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, March 5

In a major embarrassment for the Punjab and Haryana Police, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted that investigation into drug cases in the two states was extremely flawed. Describing it as far superior in Himachal Pradesh, the Bench called for bridging the gap by directing the police chiefs of the two states to depute batches of investigating officers (IOs) for proper mentoring at the Dharamshala Police Training Centre.

Amid claims of stringent measures by the police to deal with the drug menace, the Division Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra asserted that the court had noticed that the investigations in cases registered under the provisions of the NDPS Act in both states was “extremely faulty”.

It observed that it had asked the DGPs to ensure that the IOs in drug cases were mentored by an expert. Noticing that the data or statistics regarding the implementation of the directives was not there, the Bench also called for relevant information pertaining to the previously issued directions.

The Bench also made it clear that the training, to be imparted by the subject expert at the centre, would be completed within three months and a compliance affidavit would be furnished before the court by the DGPs and the training centre principal. All expenses towards board and lodging of the police officers would be borne by the two states.

The Bench was hearing an appeal filed by a convict sentenced to rigorous imprisonment extending up to 15 years in a drug case. The Bench asserted that the impugned verdict of conviction and the order of sentence did not suffer from “any gross perversity, or absurdity of gross mis-appreciation and, non-appreciation of the evidence on record”.