Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Feb 14: Though the State of Jammu and Kashmir has one of the highest number of drug trafficking cases in the country, it has failed to establish Special Courts to deal with cases registered under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Officials sources said, “the level of non-seriousness can well be gauged from the fact that the State chose not to constitute these Courts, despite clear directions from the Supreme Court about two years back”.
The directions were issued by the Apex Court in a case titled Thana Singh Versus Central Bureau of Narcotics, delivered on January 23, 2013 wherein directions were issued to States including Jammu and Kashmir, where the pendency of cases was more than five years.
“Though the important judgement was delivered in the year 2013, the State didn’t initiate the steps required for establishment of Special Courts and took notice of the judgement, only when State High Court Authorities sent repeated reminders to the State Government”, sources pointed out.
“After receiving judicial orders from the High Court, the Law Department in 2014 mooted a proposal for setting up of the Courts for speedy disposal of cases, which were pending for the past several years”, sources said adding, “the Law Department had sent the proposal to the Finance and Planning Departments”.
“After several months of delay, the Finance Department has recently sent back the file to the Law Department suggesting them to study similar Courts, which have been set up in other States. The proposal is now likely to be sent to the Planning Department for their views on the subject”, sources said adding, “though in our State the proposal is shuttling between various Departments since the last two years, most of the States of the country have already set up similar Courts”.
“The proposal hasn’t found any takers despite the fact that the State figures very high among the drug-trafficking radar on the country and shares its border with Pakistan, which is major supplier of narcotics”, sources remarked.
Sources said, “in Kashmir region, it was proposed to establish Courts in Pulwama, Shopian and Anantnag districts as these regions had well-knit drug cartels and Court would be helpful in dealing with cases under NDPS Act”, sources said.
“It was also proposed to have similar infrastructure in Kathua and Samba districts, where cases of seizure of narcotics drugs are more in comparison with other areas in Jammu region”, sources said adding, “there were also instances when the drugs (particularly heroin) had entered the country through these border districts”.
“The prime objective for setting up of Special Courts is to ensure speedy trial of all cases under the NDPS Act, so that it serve as a deterrent for people involved in these activities”, sources asserted.
Elaborating over the directions and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Thana Singh Vs. Central Bureau of Narcotics case in 2013, source remarked, “the guidelines were particularly for the States of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir, where the pendency of cases over five years is stated to be high. The States, in consultation with the High Court were to set up Special Courts in proportionate to the volume of pending cases in the State”.
“Till exclusive courts for the purpose of disposing of NDPS cases under the NDPS Act are established, these cases will be prioritized over all other matters and after the setting up of the Special Courts for NDPS cases, only after the clearance of matters under the NDPS Act will an NDPS court be permitted to take up any other matter”, says the judgement.
The Apex Court had also directed that Nodal officers be appointed in all the departments dealing with the NDPS cases, for monitoring the progress of investigation and trial. “These Nodal officer must be equivalent or superior to the rank of Superintendent of Police, who shall ensure that the trial is not delayed on account of non-supply of documents, non-availability of the witnesses, or for any other reason”, says the order
On the issue of repeated adjournments in NDPS case, the Bench said, “no NDPS court would grant adjournments at the request of a party except where the circumstances are beyond the control of the party. This exception must be treated as an exception, and must not be allowed to swallow the generic rule against grant of adjournments.
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