Punjab fighting drugs: Supreme Court for caution on bail pleas

Tribune News Service

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 8

The Supreme Court has asserted that Punjab is in the grip of drug menace with identifiable drug lords deeply rooted in the state, while ruling that the courts under the circumstances were obligated to exercise a high degree of caution when considering bail applications, particularly for individuals with a history of repeat offences.

The assertion by the Division Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta came on an appeal filed by an accused in a drugs case after the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed his plea for anticipatory bail. His name had surfaced in another matter under the NDPS Act while he was on interim bail.

“The drug addiction has posed a serious threat to the once vibrant state. The courts, therefore, ought to be highly circumspect while granting bail, especially to a repeat offender,” the Bench asserted, while making it further clear that the involvement of state police officials and affluent individuals in international drug trafficking was also suspected.

The Bench asserted it was of the considered view that the parameters of granting bail in a case under special statutes such as the NDPS Act might not be liberally construed in the instant case. “We say so taking notice of the fact that the State of Punjab is reeling under the grip of drug menace. There are several drug lords whose roots are identifiable in Punjab, and who operate in the cross-border drug racketing and organized trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances”.

The Bench added it was a matter of common knowledge that huge cache of illicit drugs was smuggled across the border. Some local pharmaceutical industries, state police officials and other affluent people had been suspected to be involved, at occasions, in international drug trafficking.

The Bench further added the appellant, as apparent from the allegations, was a drug peddler and there was every likelihood of his returning to the same illicit trade once allowed the privilege of pre-arrest bail.

The Bench added the appellant did not deserve the concession of anticipatory bail. But he, like his co-accused, would be at liberty to apply for regular bail. Such an application, if moved, would be decided by the Special Judge as early as possible and preferably within two weeks.

Taking into consideration the fact that the appellant had been enjoying interim protection against arrest since December 2, 2022, it was also directed that the interim order passed by the Supreme Court on October 6, 2023, would continue to operate for three weeks so that his regular bail application could be decided in the meantime.

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