Book kingpins in drug cases under PMLA: High Court

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, September 15

A decade after the High Court took suo motu cognisance of drugs, a Division Bench today made it clear that cases were required to be registered against kingpins under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) while registering an FIR under the NDPS Act and the Opium Act.

Wants Edu Dept to make docus

• The Bench says Education Dept should make documentaries, ask students to attend seminars
• Rules that after-treatment services provided at de-addiction centres should be of high standard

The Bench also made it clear that the Education Department was required to make documentaries and ask students to attend seminars for interacting with people who had undergone the problem of drug addiction.

The Bench also ruled that after-treatment services provided at de-addiction centres were required to be of a high standard. The de-addiction centres were further required to be advertised with the aid of a national helpline for people to reach out and make use of the facilities, rather than treating the issue of drug abuse as a social stigma.

The Bench added that the National Legal Services Authority had created a scheme for victims of drug abuse and eradication of the menace. All three state legal service authorities, with the help of the district legal services authorities, were required to work on the scheme for raising awareness by collaborating with government agencies and NGOs to prevent drug abuse.

The Bench also ruled that 26 commandments on dealing with the menace, applicable to Punjab, would apply to the state of Haryana and Chandigarh as well, including posting of policemen in plainclothes from 8 am to 6 pm around all educational institutions to nab drug peddlers and kingpins. The directions include introduction of a chapter on the menace in the school syllabus.

As per the directions, all educational institutions, including government-run, aided, private schools and minority institutes, were required to counsel students every Friday about the ill-effects of drugs.

The state government was directed to provide latest kits to investigating officers and also to hold refresher courses.

The states were also asked to issue a direction to the police that the complainant should not be the investigating officer to obviate bias. “The local intelligence units are directed to keep a close watch on shops, including dhabas, tuck shops, khokas and tea stalls, to ensure that the owners are not permitted to indulge in the sale of drugs,” it said.