Tackle cases of smuggling via drones with iron hand: Punjab and Haryana High Court

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, August 23

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for the implementation of robust counter-measures to curb drone-assisted smuggling and narco-terrorism. Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi asserted weapons and drugs were coming in from across the border via drones.

“The weapons are used by terrorists and organised crime syndicates, whereas drugs are being pushed towards the youngsters because of which the lives of a whole generation of youth are being destroyed. Therefore, offences of this kind are to be dealt with an iron hand,” Justice Bedi asserted.

The assertion came as Justice Bedi refused to grant regular bail to an accused in a case registered on January 21, 2023, under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Arms Act at the Mamdot police station in Ferozepur district.

Appearing before the Bench, the state counsel described the matter as a case of narco-terrorism, where narcotics and drugs were brought in from Pakistan via drone. The weapons were used in terror-related activities and drugs fed to the youth following which an entire generation of youngsters was being destroyed, both physically and mentally.

The Bench was also told that the petitioner was an accused in seven cases under the NDPS Act and four under the Excise Act, in addition to cases under the provisions of the IPC and the Arms Act. The petitioner’s criminal antecedents would not entitle him to the concession of bail, the state counsel told the court.

Justice Bedi asserted the record’s perusal revealed that a raid was conducted in a field on the basis of secret information. As much as 2 gm heroin, a pistol, two magazines and 12 live cartridges were seized from there.

The petitioner’s antecedents established beyond doubt that he was a habitual offender facing multiple cases under the NDPS Act. As such, satisfaction under Section 37 of the NDPS Act that the petitioner had not committed an offence and it was not likely to commit one in future could not be recorded. “I may also hasten to add here that the present case is a clear case of narco-terrorism,” Justice Bedi observed.